Won sign
₩ | |
---|---|
Won sign | |
In Unicode | U+20A9 ₩ WON SIGN |
Currency | |
Currency | South Korean won North Korean won Old Korean won |
Graphical variants | |
₩ | |
U+FFE6 ₩ FULLWIDTH WON SIGN | |
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The won sign ⟨₩⟩, is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean won.
Appearance
Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike going through the center. Some fonts display the won sign with two horizontal lines, and others with only one horizontal line. Both forms are used when handwritten.
Encoding
The Unicode code point is U+20A9 ₩ WON SIGN: this is valid for either appearance. Additionally, there is a fullwidth character at U+FFE6 ₩ FULLWIDTH WON SIGN (in the block halfwidth and fullwidth forms).
Microsoft Windows
In Microsoft Windows code page 949, the position 0x5C
is used for the won sign (in Code page 850 (latin script), this codepoint is used for backslash).[1]
In Korean versions of Windows, many fonts (including system fonts) display the backslash character as the won sign. This also applies to the directory separator character (for example, C:₩Program Files₩
) and the escape character (₩n
).
The same issue (of dual use of the 0x5C code point) is seen with the yen sign in Japanese versions of Windows.
MacOS
In macOS, the won sign key inputs U+20A9 ₩ WON SIGN only when in Hangul input mode.
Fictional use
In fiction, it is used for the woolong, a fictional currency in anime by Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy and Carole & Tuesday), and for "Kinzcash", the currency of the online game Webkinz.
References
- ^ "When is a backslash not a backslash?". archives.miloush.net.