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In currency, the cent is a monetary unit that equals 1/100 of various countries' basic monetary units. The word also refers to the coin which is worth one cent.

In the United States and Canada, the 1¢ coin is generally known by the nickname penny, alluding to the British coin and unit of that name.

A United States cent, or 1¢ or a penny.

A Euro cent, showing the common reverse side. The obverse side is country-specific.

Etymologically, the word cent derives from the Latin word centum meaning hundred.

Cent amounts between 1 cent and 99 cent(s) are often indicated by the one or two digits followed by the cent sign, a lower-case letter c pierced top to bottom by a forward slash or a vertical line: ¢ (2¢, 99¢). Where the cent sign is not available or not preferable, a lower-case letter c on its own is used (2c, 99c). In the United States and Canada, the first usage is more common, while in Australia, New Zealand and the Eurozone, the second usage is more common. In South Africa and Ireland, only the latter is ever used.

It is notable that when written the cent sign (¢ or c) follows the amount, versus a larger currency symbol placed at the beginning of the amount. For example 2¢ and $0.02. or 2c and €0.02.

The symbol "¢" has Unicode code point U+00A2 (inherited from Latin-1)[1], and the decimal representation is 162. In HTML it can be entered as ¢ or ¢

On most versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system, the symbol "¢" can be made in ANSI by holding the ALT key and typing the number 155 (ALT + 155) (or Alt + 0162) on the numeric keypad. However, this method will not necessarily work on systems set for other than Western European regional settings (for example, it won’t produce the ¢ on Central European, Cyrillic or Greek Input-method editors). On most versions of Mac OS and Mac OSX, the symbol is made by typing Option + 4 on the number row.

The cent sign is not to be confused with the colón sign ₡, which has a code point U+20A1 in Unicode (or 8353 in decimal); or the cedi sign ₵, which has a code point U+20B5 in Unicode (or 8373 in decimal).

Mints all over the world usually create coins with values up to between the equivalent of 0.1 ~ 10 U.S. dollars, while reserving banknotes for higher values. As inflation lowers the value of currencies, many have replaced the lowest-valued banknotes with coins (Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, pound sterling, euro), removed the lowest-valued coins from circulation, and/or introduced higher-valued bills. The U.S. dollar is a notable holdout, using a $1 bill along with a (less-popular) coin, where nearly all other industralized nations use solely a coin for the approximate equivalent value.

Other monetary unit subdivision systems are possible, such as the old pound sterling, which until decimalisation in 1971 was subdivided into 20 shillings (s) or into 240 old pence (d).

Examples of currencies around the world featuring cents, or related words from the same root such as centimo, centesimo, sen, are:

• Aruban florin
• Australian dollar
• Barbadian dollar
• Bahamian dollar
• Belize dollar
• Bermudian dollar
• Brazilian real (as centavo)
• Brunei dollar (as sen)
• Canadian dollar
• Cayman Islands dollar
• Cypriot pound (as σεντ or sent)
• East Caribbean dollar
• Eritrean nakfa
• Estonian kroon (as sent)
• Euro - the coins bear the text EURO CENT; actual usage varies depending on language. Greek coins have "ΛΕΠΤΟ" ("lepto") on the obverse of the one-cent coin and "ΛΕΠΤΑ" ("lepta") on the obverse of the others. In spoken French, «centimes» is used. In the only official region which uses English as a language, Ireland, the Euro Cent are referred to as Euro and Cent in both the singular and plural. The same is true for the indigineous language, Irish.
• Fijian dollar
• Guyanese dollar
• Hong Kong dollar
• Indonesian rupiah (as sen)
• Jamaican dollar
• Kenyan shilling
• Liberian dollar
• Lithuanian litas (as centas)
• Malaysian ringgit (as sen)
• Maltese lira
• Mauritian rupee
• Namibian dollar
• Netherlands Antillean gulden
• New Zealand dollar
• Seychellois rupee
• Sierra Leonean leone
• Singapore dollar
• South African rand
• Sri Lankan rupee
• Surinamese dollar
• Swazi lilangeni
• New Taiwan dollar
• Tanzanian shilling
• Trinidad and Tobago dollar
• Ugandan shilling
• United States dollar
• Zimbabwean dollar

Examples of currencies which do not feature cents

• Czech koruna - divided into 100 haléřů (sg.: haléř)
• Indian rupee - divided into 100 paise
• Kuwaiti dinar - divided into 1000 fils
• Mauritanian ouguiya - divided into 5 khoums
• Malagasy ariary - divided into 5 iraimbilanja
• Pakistani rupee - divided into 100 paise
• Polish złoty - divided into 100 groszy
• Pound sterling - divided into 100 pence
• Romanian leu - divided into 100 bani
• Russian ruble - divided into 100 kopeks
• Serbian dinar - divided into 100 paras
• Swiss franc - divided into 100 rappen
• Thai baht - divided into 100 satang
• Vietnamese đồng - 10 hào or 100 xu/su.

• U.S. Cent information by year and type. Histories, photos, mintages, mints, metal contents, edge designs, designers, and more.