# Re: Florin revisited

From: Joerg Knappen (KNAPPEN@alpha.ntp.springer.de)
Date: Tue Dec 07 1999 - 08:25:04 EST

Chris Flynn schrieb:

> Publishers specializing in technical books on photography (e.g. Focal Press,
> Kodak)
> and lens manufacturers *do* use the florin sign for lens apertures. Perhaps
> this is
> incorrect, but it does seem to have become the de-facto standard.

Note that there is a difference between _text italic_ and $math italic$,
affecting not only the width and spacing of the letters but also their
form. The most famous example is the letter _v_ which is nu-shaped in
many text italic faces, but must be upsilon-shaped in math italic. The
same is true of the $f$: conventional expectation of the reader is, that
a math italic f is florin-shaped (or has a descender at least). However,
unlike the case of $v$ vs. $\nu$, there is not the danger of misinterpreting
the symbol if the descender is lacking.

--J"org Knappen

> The florin
> sign
> (Æ\$) is easily distinguishable from an italic f in most typefaces used in
> modern books
> since the italic f usually lacks a tail. The "florin sign" is also slanted
> whether or not
> it is set as italic.

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