Cent (currency)

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A United States one-cent coin, also known as a penny

The cent is a monetary unit of many national currencies that equals 1⁄100 of the basic monetary unit.

Etymologically, the word 'cent' derives from the Latin word centum meaning hundred.

The cent sign is commonly a simple minuscule (lower case) letter c. In North America, the c is crossed by a diagonal stroke or a vertical line (depending on typeface), yielding the character ¢.

The United States one cent coin is generally known by the nickname "penny", alluding to the British coin and unit of that name. Canada ended production of their 1¢ coin in 2012.

Symbol[edit]

¢ c
Cent (currency)
In Unicode	U+00A2 ¢ CENT SIGN (HTML ¢ · ¢) U+0063 c LATIN SMALL LETTER C (HTML c)
Currency
Currency	various
Related
See also	U+FFE0 ￠ FULLWIDTH CENT SIGN (HTML ￠)
Category

The cent may be represented by the cent sign, written in various ways according to the national convention and font choice. Most commonly seen forms are a minuscule letter c crossed by a diagonal stroke or a vertical line or by a simple c, depending on the currency (see below). Cent amounts from 1 to 99 can be represented as one or two digits followed by the appropriate abbreviation (2¢, 5c, 75¢, 99c), or as a subdivision of the base unit ($0.75, €0.99) In some countries, longer abbreviations like "ct." are used. Languages that use other alphabets have their own abbreviations and conventions.

North American cent sign[edit]

The cent sign appeared as the shift of the 6 key on American manual typewriters, but that position has been taken over by the freestanding circumflex on computer keyboards. The character (offset 162) can still be created in most common code pages, including Unicode and Windows-1252:

• On DOS- or Windows-based computers with a numeric keypad, Alt can be held while typing 0162 or 155 on the keypad. See Unicode input § In Microsoft Windows for techniques involving the hexadecimal code point A2 that can be used when there is no numeric keypad, as on many laptops. For the US International keyboard Right Alt⇧ ShiftC can be typed.
• On Macintosh systems, ⌥ Option can be held and 4 on the number row pressed.
• On Unix/Linux systems with a compose key, Compose+|+C and Compose+/+C are typical sequences.

Orthography[edit]

When written in English, the cent sign (¢ or c) follows the amount (with no space between)—for example, 2¢ and $0.02, or 2c and €0.02. Conventions in other languages may vary.

Usage[edit]

Minor currency units called cent or similar names[edit]

Examples of currencies around the world featuring centesimal (1⁄100) units called cent, or related words from the same root such as céntimo, centésimo, centavo or sen, are:

• Argentine peso (as centavo)
• Aruban florin, however all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• Australian dollar, however all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• Barbadian dollar
• Bahamian dollar
• Belize dollar
• Bermudian dollar
• Bolivian boliviano (as centavo), however all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 centovos
• Brazilian real (as centavo)
• Brunei dollar (as sen)
• Canadian dollar
• Cayman Islands dollar
• Chilean peso (as centavo). Centavos officially exist and are considered in financial transactions; however, there are no current centavo-denominated coins.
• Colombian peso (as centavo)
• Cook Islands dollar (cent, although some 50 cent coins are marked "50 tene")
• Cuban peso (as centavo)
• East Caribbean dollar, however all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• Eritrean nakfa
• Estonian kroon (as sent)
• Euro – the coins bear the text "Euro cent". Greek coins have ΛΕΠΤΟ ("lepto") on the obverse of the one-cent coin and ΛΕΠΤΑ ("lepta") on the obverse of the others. The actual usage varies depending on the language.
• Fijian dollar
• Guyanese dollar
• Hong Kong dollar, however all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 cents.
• Indonesian rupiah (as sen)
• Jamaican dollar
• Kenyan shilling
• Lesotho loti (as sente)
• Liberian dollar
• Macanese pataca (as avo), however all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 Avos.
• Malaysian ringgit (as sen)
• Mauritian rupee
• Mexican peso (as centavo)
• Moroccan dirham (as santim)
• Namibian dollar
• Netherlands Antillean gulden
• New Zealand dollar, however all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 cents.
• Panamanian balboa (as centésimo)
• Peruvian nuevo sol (as céntimo)
• Philippine peso (as sentimo or centavo)
• Seychellois rupee
• Sierra Leonean leone
• Singapore dollar
• South African rand
• Sri Lankan rupee
• Surinamese dollar
• Swazi lilangeni
• New Taiwan dollar, however all circulating coins are in multiples of 50 cents.
• Tanzanian shilling
• Tongan paʻanga (as seniti)
• Trinidad and Tobago dollar
• United States dollar
• Uruguayan peso (as centésimo)
• Zimbabwean dollar

Minor currency units with other names[edit]

Examples of currencies featuring centesimal (1⁄100) units not called cent

Obsolete centesimal currency units[edit]

Examples of currencies which formerly featured centesimal (1⁄100) units but now have no fractional denomination in circulation:

Examples of currencies which use the cent symbol for other purposes:

• Costa Rican colón – The common symbol '¢' is frequently used locally to represent '₡', the proper colón designation
• Ghanaian cedi – The common symbol '¢' is sometimes used to represent '₵', the proper cedi designation

See also[edit]

• Cent (music)

Notes[edit]