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Thecent is amonetaryunit of many nationalcurrencies that equals ahundredth (1⁄100) of the basic monetary unit. The word derives from theLatincentum, 'hundred'.
Thecent sign is commonly a simpleminuscule (lower case) letterc. In North America, the c is crossed by a diagonal or verticalstroke (depending ontypeface), yielding the character¢.
TheUnited States one cent coin is generally known by the nickname "penny", alluding to theBritish coin and unit of that name. Australia ended production oftheir 1c coin in 1990,[1] New Zealand last producedtheir 1c coin in 1988,[2]as did Canada in 2012.[3][4] SomeEurozone countries ended production of the1 euro cent coin, most recently Slovakia in 2022.[5]
| ¢ c | |
|---|---|
Cent (currency) | |
| In Unicode | U+00A2 ¢CENT SIGN (¢) U+0063 cLATIN SMALL LETTER C |
| Currency | |
| Currency | various |
| Related | |
| See also | U+FFE0 ￠FULLWIDTH CENT SIGN |
| Different from | |
| Different from | U+023C ȼLATIN SMALL LETTER C WITH STROKE |
 Category | |
The cent may be represented by the cent sign, written in various ways according to the national convention andfont choice. Most commonly seen forms are aminuscule letterc crossed by a diagonalstroke, a vertical line, a simplec, depending on the currency (seebelow). 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.
The cent symbol has largely fallen into disuse since the mid-20th century as inflation has resulted in very few things being priced in cents in any currency. It was included on UStypewriter keyboards, but has not been adopted on computers.[6]
The cent sign appeared as the shift of the 6 keys on American manual typewriters, but thefreestanding circumflex on computer keyboards has taken over that position. The character (offset 162) can still be created in most commoncode pages, includingUnicode andWindows-1252:
A2 that can be used when there is no numeric keypad, as on many laptops. For the US International keyboardRight Alt⇧ ShiftC can be typed.When written in English and Mexican Spanish, 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.
| East India Company half cent (1845). | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Obverse: Crowned head left with letteringQueen Victoria | Reverse: Face value, year and "East India Company" inscribed insidewreath. |
| 18,737,498 coins minted in 1845. | |
Examples of currencies around the world featuring centesimal (1⁄100) units calledcent, or related words from the same root such ascéntimo,centésimo,centavo orsen, are:
Examples of currencies featuring centesimal (1⁄100) units not calledcent
Examples of currencies which formerly featured centesimal (1⁄100) units but now have no fractional denomination in circulation:
| Major unit | Formerly divided into |
|---|---|
| Costa Rican colón | (until the 1980s) 100 céntimos |
| Czech koruna | 100haléřů |
| Hungarian forint | (until 1999) 100fillér |
| Icelandic króna | 100 eyrir (singularaurar) |
| Japanese yen | 100 sen |
| Norwegian krone | 100øre |
| South Korean won | 100 jeon |
| Swedish krona | (until 2010) 100öre |
| Ugandan shilling | (until 2013) 100 cents. |
Examples of currencies which use the cent symbol for other purposes:
| Circulating | |
|---|---|
| Obsolete and historical | |
| Cryptocurrency | |
| Generic placeholder | |
Authority control databases: National |
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