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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:
placement of the currency symbol
English translation:
Place symbol before for the U.S., UK and English Canada
English to English translations [PRO] Bus/Financial - Business/Commerce (general) / Placement of currency sign
English term or phrase:May I put the currency sign after the amount?
As far as I can tell, the placement of the currency sign/symbol (and the ISO 4217 code, e.g. "EUR") depends on the varies by currency (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_sign ).
And apparently, most English-speaking countries place the currency sign before the amount, e.g. $450.50. The standardized European default placement, used in absence of a national standard, is that "€" is placed before the amount (see http://www.answers.com/topic/currency-sign ).
Even before I came to Germany and was exposed to placing the currency sign "DM" after the amount for the first time, I have always found that the placement before the amount just doesn't work as well with the rest of the punctuation. The amount I mentioned above is a perfect example: I think it just looks a bit strange to have the decimal and the period separated only by the numbers (it gets worse the higher the amount because of the commas).
I think it looks better following the amount, e.g. 1,250.03 $. What do you think? Does anyone have the 'definitive' rule handy?
Thanks for your help - I look forward to hearing your opinions.
:-)
Pidzej has raised an interesting point about putting the currency symbol in the MIDDLE, as a decimal separator; very common in Europe in shops, and actually quite practical, but not appropriate for formal texts, I think, and no good for ;...
...and as a typographer, I don't have a problem with the figures preceding the period; what is far MORE 'offensive' to me is the persistent use of the 'period' instead of the proper centre-line decimal point as the decimals separator; ...
I don't think one can really base a whole style rule just on how something looks on the odd occasion it comes at the end of a sentence! In fact, it might almost be better to say that it is poor style to end a sentence with a currency written in figures!
For which currency, which country, and in which language, Derek?
21:05 Jan 12, 2006
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Answers
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may i put the currency sign after the amount?
It depends on the currency
Explanation: *
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 5 mins (2006-01-12 21:07:37 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
$25.50 or 25.50 $
£25.50
50,00 €
The pound sign usually goes first. The dollar sign can be either because it is the sign which counts and the euro goes at the end.
Whatever is on a banknote will indicate the correct usage to you.
The translation workplace 
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