Cent sign (¢) in HTML
The cent sign marks a fraction of a dollar. Its named reference is ¢ and its code point is U+00A2, and unlike most currency symbols it follows the number rather than preceding it.
At a glance
- Character
- ¢
- Named entity
- ¢
- Decimal reference
- ¢
- Hex reference
- ¢
- Unicode code point
- U+00A2
- Unicode name
- CENT SIGN
- In the entity reference
- Currency
In detail
The cent sign is unusual among currency symbols in that it is a suffix. Ninety nine cents is written with the number first and the symbol after, with no space, which is the opposite of the dollar convention it belongs to. That asymmetry catches template code that assumes every currency symbol goes in front of its amount.
It has largely vanished from retail pricing, partly because it disappeared from typewriter and then computer keyboards, and partly because a price written in dollars with two decimal places sorts and sums without special handling. Where it survives is in unit pricing, in older signage, and in anything that reproduces the look of a period document.
Being in the Latin-1 range it has an old named entity and universal font coverage, so if you do want it there is nothing to worry about technically. The judgement call is stylistic: a modern price list that switches between a dollar prefix above a dollar and a cent suffix below one looks inconsistent in a column.
There is no matching symbol for a hundredth of most other currencies. Sterling uses a plain p, the euro has no subunit symbol at all, and where a subunit is written it is usually spelled out. Do not go looking for a euro cent character, because it does not exist as a distinct code point.
Examples
<p>Was $1.20, now 99¢</p>
<p>Unit price: 4.7¢ per gram</p><p>Was $1.20, now $0.99</p>Keeping every price in the same unit is what makes a column of prices scannable.
Things that catch people out
- Placing the symbol before the number is wrong in the convention the character belongs to, and it looks like a typo rather than a style choice.
- There is no cent equivalent for the euro. A euro price under one euro is written as a decimal, not with a subunit symbol.
- Mixing dollar prefixes and cent suffixes in one list makes the prices harder to compare at a glance, which is usually the opposite of the intent.
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