Cents Symbol ¢ — Copy, Paste and Type the Cent Sign
Cents Symbol — Copy It Here
Cent sign: ¢
What Is the Cents Symbol?
The cent sign (¢) is a monetary symbol representing one hundredth of a dollar or other base currency unit. It is essentially the letter "c" with a vertical or diagonal stroke through it. The symbol dates back to the late 18th century in the United States and has been adopted by many countries that use dollar-based or centesimal currency systems.
Unicode Code
- Cent sign ¢: U+00A2
- HTML: ¢ or ¢
Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows
- Hold Alt and type 0162 on the numeric keypad
- In Microsoft Word: type 00A2 then press Alt+X
- On some laptop keyboards: Fn + Alt + 0162 (with numlock on)
Mac
- Press Option + 4 (the $ key with Option held)
iPhone
- Switch to the numbers keyboard (123 key)
- Tap the symbols key (#+=)
- The cent sign ¢ is available in the symbols section
Android
- Long-press the dollar sign $ on most keyboards
- A popup appears with ¢ as one of the options
Linux
- Press Ctrl+Shift+U, then type 00A2, then Enter
Currencies That Use the Cent Sign
The cent symbol is used for fractional units of various currencies:
- US Dollar — 1¢ = $0.01
- Euro — called "cent" (1¢ = €0.01)
- Australian Dollar — 1¢ = AU$0.01
- Canadian Dollar — 1¢ = CA$0.01
- Singapore Dollar — 1¢ = S$0.01
- New Taiwan Dollar — 1¢ = NT$0.01 (historical)
Note: Many countries have discontinued their 1¢ coins due to production costs exceeding face value. The US, however, still mints pennies.
Why Is the Cent Sign Hard to Find on Keyboards?
Most modern keyboards do not have a dedicated cent key. The symbol was dropped from standard keyboard layouts as physical cents became less commonly used in transactions. The dollar sign $ took its place as the primary currency key. You can still access it through the shortcuts listed above.
How to Use the Cent Symbol in Different Contexts
In HTML
Use ¢ or ¢ to display the cent sign on web pages.
In Microsoft Excel
Format cells as Currency, then choose a format that shows cents. Or type the value and add ¢ by copying it or using Alt+0162.
In Social Media
Copy and paste ¢ directly into tweets, Instagram captions, or Facebook posts. It works across all platforms.
In Programming
In most programming languages, use the Unicode escape sequence:
- JavaScript: "\\u00A2"
- Python: "\\u00A2"
- HTML: ¢
- CSS content: "\\00A2"
Interesting Facts About the Cent Sign
- The cent symbol was included in the original ASCII character set (position 162)
- Canada discontinued the penny in 2013 — cash transactions are now rounded to the nearest 5¢
- Australia removed 1¢ and 2¢ coins from circulation in 1992
- The US Mint produces over 5 billion pennies per year, each costing about 2.7¢ to make
- In some countries, the cent is called by different names: "penny" (US), "centime" (French-speaking countries), "centésimo" (Spanish-speaking countries)
Related Symbol Guides
Looking for more currency symbols? Check out our Complete Currency Symbols List, or browse our Dollar Sign $ guide.