Currency Symbols & Unicode Characters Reference
Complete reference of currency symbols with their Unicode code points. Covers $, €, £, ¥, ₹, ₩, ₿ and more with HTML entities and usage tips for developers.
Detailed Explanation
Currency Symbols in Unicode
Currency symbols are scattered across multiple Unicode blocks. Not all currencies have a dedicated symbol — many share the generic currency sign (¤, U+00A4) or use abbreviations. Here is a comprehensive reference for developers.
Common Currency Symbols
| Symbol | Unicode | HTML Entity | Currency |
|---|---|---|---|
| $ | U+0024 | $ | US Dollar, and many others |
| € | U+20AC | € | Euro |
| £ | U+00A3 | £ | British Pound Sterling |
| ¥ | U+00A5 | ¥ | Japanese Yen / Chinese Yuan |
| ₹ | U+20B9 | ₹ | Indian Rupee |
| ₩ | U+20A9 | ₩ | South Korean Won |
| ₿ | U+20BF | ₿ | Bitcoin |
| ₫ | U+20AB | ₫ | Vietnamese Dong |
| ₱ | U+20B1 | ₱ | Philippine Peso |
| ₺ | U+20BA | ₺ | Turkish Lira |
| ₴ | U+20B4 | ₴ | Ukrainian Hryvnia |
| ₽ | U+20BD | ₽ | Russian Ruble |
| ₸ | U+20B8 | ₸ | Kazakhstani Tenge |
| ₪ | U+20AA | ₪ | Israeli Shekel |
| ₾ | U+20BE | ₾ | Georgian Lari |
Unicode Currency Symbols Block
The dedicated Currency Symbols block is at U+20A0–U+20CF. However, the dollar sign ($, U+0024) is in the Basic Latin block, and the pound/yen signs are in Latin-1 Supplement.
Font Support Considerations
Not all fonts include every currency symbol. When displaying currencies on the web:
- Use web-safe fonts or load fonts with broad Unicode coverage
- Always provide a CSS
font-familyfallback chain - For the Bitcoin symbol (₿), support was only added in Unicode 10.0 (2017) — older fonts may not include it
- Consider using
Intl.NumberFormatwhich automatically handles symbol placement and font rendering
Symbol Placement
Currencies differ in where the symbol appears:
- Before amount: $100, £100, €100 (English convention)
- After amount: 100€, 100kr (many European languages)
- Specific rules vary by locale — always use
Intl.NumberFormatfor correct placement
Use Case
When building user interfaces that display prices across multiple currencies, you need to handle Unicode currency symbols correctly. This includes ensuring proper font support, HTML entity encoding for email templates, and locale-aware symbol placement. Developers building invoice generators, receipt printers, or PDF exporters need to verify that their rendering engine supports all required currency glyphs.