# Why does the $ symbol go in front of the amount? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362 "2009-12-15T15:24:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![taffygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@taffygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taffygirl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/1 "2009-12-15T15:24:33Z")
The ¢ symbol comes after the amount, the % comes after the amount, yet with dollars (and pounds and other similar forms of currency) the symbol comes before the amount. We don’t SAY “dollars fifty,” so why do we WRITE “$50”? One of my students asked me this, and it’s been driving me crazy ever since…admittedly a short trip. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/2 "2009-12-15T15:26:38Z")
Because it’s always been that way… or Because it does. It’s arbitrary and tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/3 "2009-12-15T16:00:29Z")
It does let you know up front (literally) that the number that follows is going to be a dollar amount. It just seems to make more sense based on the way we read, even if it differs from the way we speak. If you want to get semantic about it and write out dollar amounts the way we speak them, you’d have to write 2.50 as 2.50, since nobody says “two-point-five dollars.” (You might say “two and a half dollars” but that only works typically for easily spoken fractions, since you wouldn’t similarly say “two and twelve fourteenths dollars” for a different amount of cents.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/4 "2009-12-15T16:14:40Z")
The “you’d have to write 2.50 as 2.50” doesn’t hold; it would be “2.50$”. You’d need to separate only if you were writing the units for each part: “2$50ç”. The “.50” is still in dollars, it’s half a dollar and not half a cent. When I give my height in meters it’s 1.62m; when I give it in these boards, it’s 5’4". This is not linked to “metric vs Imperial”, but to using a single unit for the whole measurement or not. Another example with dollars which I think may help clarify would be going from 2.05 to either 2.05 or 2$5ç. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/5 "2009-12-15T16:18:27Z")
> [@taffygirl](#): > > with dollars (and pounds and other similar forms of currency) I think this is the key to the true GQ answer here: you’re going to have to go back before dollars and find out who we took the convention from. ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/6 "2009-12-15T17:30:15Z")
The dollars followed the Pound Sterling convention. The pound sign is from Latin “libra”. In Latin, you would say the currency and then give the amount. It didn’t matter that English doesn’t do it that way, so although people would speak english, they would write in the Latin convention (notice it is Pound Sterling and not Sterling Pounds) (Some countries do put the currency first–In India, something doesn’t cost seventy-five Rupees, instead you say the price is “Rupees seventy-five” and write it Rs75) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/7 "2009-12-15T18:09:28Z")
> [@fandango](#): > > The dollars followed the Pound Sterling convention. The pound sign is from Latin “libra”. That doesn’t explain why we put the _cents_ sign after the amount, does it? 50¢ versus $0.50. > [@fandango](#): > > In Latin, you would say the currency and then give the amount. It didn’t matter that English doesn’t do it that way, so although people would speak english, they would write in the Latin convention (notice it is Pound Sterling and not Sterling Pounds) > > (Some countries do put the currency first–In India, something doesn’t cost seventy-five Rupees, instead you say the price is “Rupees seventy-five” and write it Rs75) In French, you put the dollar sign after the amount. See this [example news story dealing with a rise in the minimum wage](http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Economie/2009/12/15/005-salaire_minimum.shtml). I seem to recall seeing some places putting the currency sign in place of the decimal point: 25$99. Except it was the peso sign rather than the dollar sign . So it must have been a Spanish-speaking country, but I don’t remember which one. ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/8 "2009-12-15T18:16:14Z")
I think the Fr. sign for francs generally goes between the francs and centimes, So you have Amounts like 40fr30 ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/9 "2009-12-15T18:22:03Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That doesn’t explain why we put the _cents_ sign after the amount, does it? 50¢ versus $0.50. Also from British custom of 50d for 50 pence. (which originated with Latin “denarus”), probably done that way for readability? ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/10 "2009-12-15T18:30:57Z")
> [@fandango](#): > > The dollars followed the Pound Sterling convention. The pound sign is from Latin “libra”. Except that, in print, the original form of the pound sterling symbol (_l._) often went after the figure. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/11 "2009-12-15T19:03:13Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > In French, you put the dollar sign after the amount. See this [example news story dealing with a rise in the minimum wage](http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/Economie/2009/12/15/005-salaire_minimum.shtml). My first reaction to the thread title was “it doesn’t always…?” but I didn’t really know why until you pointed this out. I’m kind of used to using and seeing either 2.50 or 2.50 but didn’t realize it was a language-related convention. Thanks! One of the down sides of bilingualism is getting totally confused over what comes from what language. Now if I could only keep things like envelope and enveloppe straight…:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/12 "2009-12-15T20:03:57Z")
Admittedly, putting it after the amount is more logical; we say 3 %, 6 mi, 27 km, why not 2.50 $? But English is not noted for consistency. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/13 "2009-12-15T20:09:59Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > But English is not noted for consistency. I’m not sure that any language is. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/14 "2009-12-15T20:16:04Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Admittedly, putting it after the amount is more logical; we say 3 %, 6 mi, 27 km, why not 2.50 $? But English is not noted for consistency. > > > [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > > > I’m not sure that any language is. Isn’t Esperanto perfectly consistent? If not, it should be! ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/15 "2009-12-15T20:16:26Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The “you’d have to write 2.50 as 2.50” doesn’t hold; it would be “2.50$”. You’d need to separate only if you were writing the units for each part: “2$50ç”. The “.50” is still in dollars, it’s half a dollar and not half a cent. I think **Mindfield** ’s point though was that putting the dollar sign after the 2 reflects more how we read out the values, not that the dollar sign should in some sense be associated only with the 2. If we wrote a currency amount as, say, “3.05$” then someone may read it out as “Three point zero five dol… Oh, it’s a currency value, so I should say three dollars, five cents”. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/16 "2009-12-15T20:31:34Z")
It does add a little bit of security in that digits can’t be added to the left when writing a check or making a ledger entry. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/17 "2009-12-15T20:51:05Z")
I’m idly wondering if the convention in Spanish of putting an upside-down question mark or exclamation point _before_ a sentence is related to this convention at all. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/18 "2009-12-16T00:19:50Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I seem to recall seeing some places putting the currency sign in place of the decimal point: 25$99. Except it was the peso sign rather than the dollar sign . So it must have been a Spanish-speaking country, but I don’t remember which one. Portugal used to do that with the escudo sign (which looked a lot like a dollar sign) - as seen on this [2.50 escudo coin](http://128.192.145.172/foreign4/63port250.jpg). But Portugal uses the euro now. Which brings me to the point that different countries in the euro zone have different ways of writing the amounts. Some put it before the number, some after. (See the table [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_issues_concerning_the_euro).) In practice, you also sometimes see it used in place of the decimal point, as in 3€50. ---
**Author:** ![Random\_Design](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@Random\_Design](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random_Design)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/19 "2009-12-17T10:41:53Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Admittedly, putting it after the amount is more logical; we say 3 %, 6 mi, 27 km, why not 2.50 $? But English is not noted for consistency. Or logic. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362/20 "2009-12-17T12:49:35Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I’m idly wondering if the convention in Spanish of putting an upside-down question mark or exclamation point _before_ a sentence is related to this convention at all. Shrug, I have no idea when it originated, but the logic about the opening marks is that they tell you where to change inflection. They’re related to the opening mark in a quotation: “you quote things like this,” thus indicating where your quotation begins as well as where it ends. The Catalan and Spanish notations in that table contain a mistake that’s pretty frequent. In Spanish, the decimal marker should be an apostrophe (coma alta). It’s common to see a comma because most foreign-made computer programs don’t have the option to use an apostrophe as a decimal market, so the “nearest option” of using a comma is chosen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-symbol-go-in-front-of-the-amount/521362.md?page=2)