Cent (currency)

The cent may be represented by the cent sign, written in various ways according to the national convention and font choice. The most commonly seen forms are a minuscule letter c crossed by a diagonal stroke, a c crossed by a vertical line, or 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.

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 US typewriter keyboards, but has not been adopted on computers.

The CJK Compatibility Unicode block includes the character ⟨㌣⟩, a square version of セント, sento, "cent" in Japanese.

North American cent sign

The cent sign appeared as the shifted character on the 6 key of American manual typewriters, but the freestanding circumflex on computer keyboards has taken over that position.

Orthography

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. For example, in Canada, French texts add a non-breaking space between the amount and the sign: 2 ¢.

Minor currency units called cent or similar names

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, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• Australian dollar, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• Barbadian dollar
• Bahamian dollar, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• Belize dollar
• Bermudian dollar
• Bolivian boliviano (as centavo), but all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 centavos
• Brazilian real (as centavo), but all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 centavos
• Brunei dollar (as sen)
• Cambodian riel (as sen)
• Canadian dollar
• Caribbean guilder
• Cayman Islands dollar
• Chilean peso (as centavo). The values in centavos of peso have been disregarded since the 1980s, and the 1 and 5 peso coins were withdrawn recently.
• Colombian peso (as centavo) In practice, coins below 5 pesos have not circulated since the late 1980s, and the smallest denomination currently in circulation is 50 pesos, with centavos having been discontinued since the 1980s. Although a redenomination involving the removal of three zeros from the currency has been considered, this has not yet occurred.
• Cook Islands dollar (cent, although some 50 cent coins are marked "50 tene")
• Cuban peso (as centavo)
• East Caribbean dollar, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• Eritrean nakfa
• Ethiopian birr (as santim)
• 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.
  • Bulgarian coins have СТОТИНКА ("stotinka") on the obverse of the one-cent coin and СТОТИНКИ ("stotinki") on the obverse of the others.
  • The actual usage varies depending on the language.
• Fijian dollar
• Guyanese dollar, but there are no circulating coins with a value below one dollar.
• Hong Kong dollar, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 cents.
• Indonesian rupiah (as sen; the last coin minted was the 50-cent coin, in 1961; the last cent-denominated banknotes were printed in 1964 and were demonetized in 1996, save for the 1-cent note)
• Jamaican dollar, but there are no circulating coins with a value below one dollar.
• Kenyan shilling
• Lesotho loti (as sente)
• Liberian dollar
• Macanese pataca (as avo), but all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 avos.
• Malaysian ringgit (as sen), but all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 sen.
• Mauritian rupee
• Mexican peso (as centavo)
• Moroccan dirham (as santim)
• Namibian dollar
• New Zealand dollar, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 cents.
• Panamanian balboa (as centésimo)
• Peruvian sol (as céntimo)
• Philippine peso (as sentimo or centavo)
• Seychellois rupee
• Sierra Leonean leone
• Singapore dollar, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 5 cents.
• South African rand, but all circulating coins are in multiples of 10 cents.
• Sri Lankan rupee
• Surinamese dollar
• Swazi lilangeni
• New Taiwan dollar, but 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 ZiG

Minor currency units with other names

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

Obsolete centesimal currency units

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

Other Usages

Cent accounts are retail foreign exchange trading accounts whose balances are measured in cents instead of US dollars.