John Cowan wrote on 1999-07-22 19:05 UTC:
> What happened to U+20B0 GERMAN PENNY SYMBOL

Am 1999-07-22 um 15:32 h hat Markus Kuhn geschrieben:
> Markus [... is not] aware of any currency unit "penny" ever used
> anywhere in the land of Schiller, Goethe, and Walkes.

Of course, this unit is named "Pfennig", and it has been widely used.
It is still in official use (0,01 DM) and will be so until March 2001,
when 2 Pfennig will become 1 Eurocent.

Am 1999-07-22 um 15:32 h hat Markus Kuhn geschrieben:
> what does it look like?

Am 1999-07-23 um 6:16 hat Torsten Mohrin geschrieben:
> I've set up a web page a few minutes ago:
> http://www.sharmahd.com/temp/pfennig.html

Fine! I was going to scan a sample from my own hand, but I would
not have been able to compete with those kalligraphic masterpieces :-)

Am 1999-7-22 um 15:32 hat Markus Kuhn geschrieben:
> Where does this symbol come from and what does it look like?

Am 1999-07-23 um 4:16 h hat Torsten Mohrin geschrieben:
> I don't know where it comes from but to me it looks like a German
> handwritten (Sütterlin) small "d".

And this is because it is an abbreviation for "denarius", the Latin word
for a particular coin.

The same sign is used in proof-reading to mark text to be deleted, cf.
"Duden : Rechtschreibung der deutschen Sprache", 21th ed. (1996),
ISBN 3-411-04011-4, chapter "Korrekturvorschriften", Number 11
(p. 81). In this case, it is the abbreviation for "deleatur" (Latin
for "to be deleted").

Am 1999-07-23 um 4:16 h hat Torsten Mohrin geschrieben:
> About 20 years ago [...] the Pfennig symbol [was used]
> on the price labels.

I remember the same, especially in hand-written announcements on the
grocery market or in small shops.

> Along with the Pfennig symbol the Pfund symbol (pound; weight not
> currency) was used on these price labels. It looks like a small cursive
> "u" where the tail on the bottom right side is lengthened in S-form
> and overlaps the "u" (hard to describe this thing).

Rather, this is "lb" in handwriting, an abreviation for "libra" (Latin for
"pound"). I deem this a glyph variant of U+2114.

Best wishes,
   Otto Stolz