Currency Symbols Around the World — Complete Guide
Money talks, and it speaks in symbols. From the dollar sign $ to the Indian rupee ₹, every country (and economic union) has its own currency symbol. This guide covers every major currency symbol in use today — where it comes from, what it means, and how to type it.
Major World Currency Symbols
These are the most widely used and recognized currency symbols on the planet.
European Currency Symbols
Asian Currency Symbols
Middle East and Africa
Americas
The Origin of the Dollar Sign $
The dollar sign is one of the most recognized symbols on Earth. Its exact origin is debated, but the most widely accepted theory is that it evolved from the Spanish peso abbreviation "ps." Over time, the "p" and "s" were written on top of each other, eventually becoming the S with one or two vertical lines we know today.
Another theory links it to the Pillars of Hercules from the Spanish coat of arms, which appear as two vertical bars with a scrolling ribbon (the S shape) between them. Regardless of which theory is correct, the symbol has been in use since the late 1700s.
The Euro Symbol €
The euro symbol was designed in 1996 and is inspired by the Greek letter epsilon (ε), referencing both ancient Greece as the cradle of European civilization and the first letter of "Europe." The two horizontal lines represent stability. Unlike the dollar or pound, the euro symbol was designed — it did not evolve organically.
How to Type Currency Symbols
- $ Dollar: Shift+4 (US keyboard)
- € Euro: Alt+0128 (Windows) / Option+Shift+2 (Mac)
- £ Pound: Shift+3 (UK keyboard) / Alt+0163 (Windows)
- ¥ Yen: Option+Y (Mac) / Alt+0165 (Windows)
- ₹ Rupee: Ctrl+Shift+u20b9 (Linux) / copy-paste on others
- ₩ Won: Ctrl+Shift+u20a9 (Linux) / copy-paste
- ₽ Ruble: copy-paste on most devices
The fastest way on any device? Just copy the symbol you need from this page and paste it wherever you want. Every character here is a real Unicode symbol that works everywhere.
Cryptocurrency Symbols
Digital currencies have their own growing set of symbols. The most notable is ₿ for Bitcoin, which was added to Unicode in 2017. Other cryptocurrencies typically use their ticker symbols (ETH, SOL, DOGE) rather than dedicated Unicode characters, though some communities have proposed symbols.