WG2 N2188

Proposal for a new Letterlike Symbol„Script D Symbol With Tail“ alias ,,German Penny Symbol"
by Elmar Dünßer, Am Tummelbach 7a D-86854 Amberg, Germany
E-mail: elmar.duensser@t-online.deHereby I apply for integration of

into the Letterlike Symbols grou~ of Unicode.

Glyphic variants:

A)

typical printed and handwritten form together with Latin (nonFractur) fonts recommended for glyphic representation in UnicodeB)

variants of the above formC)

typical printed form together with Fraktur fontsD)

variants of the above formE)archaic handwritten forms (1426,1572)

F)

very archaic form (14xx) engraved in a wooden calculation table

History:
Since the Middle Ages in Germany a special symbol, originally a letter ,,du with a tail, was used as
abbreviation for the penny (in German ,Pfennig', in Latin ,,denanrius“). Unlike in England where this ,,d'seems to have remained a normal letter, in Germany this ,,d evolved into a special symbol, an extra letter
which was seen as a symbol of its own, and because of the peculiar shape its origin as "flowery d"
became obscure to most Germans.
In the last 100 years two glyphic variants of that symbol were in use: an „angular one (A) and a„rounded“ one (C). From the evidence I found it seems that together with the "angular" Fraktur fonts
usually the ,round (0)-variant of the symbol was used, and together with the ,,round' Latin (non-Fraktur)
fonts the ,,angular“ (A)-variant was used, probably to make it look special and utmost different from the,,normal“ letters.

On old typewriters from the very beginnings in 1870 until around 1933 it appears as an extra
key! In Nazi time the symbol was replaced on many typewriters by the flashy German SSSymbol (for non-monetary reasons) and after Word War II typically by the American dollar sign
In 1957 I still had to learn the German Penny Symbol as an extra business symbol in primaryschool. It was used in Germany mainly by merchants in printed matters until the late Fifties.
In handwritten form it was in use until the Seventies of this century. My (Japanese) wife who came toGermany in 1972, tells me that she saw it often in handwritten form in the first years of her stay inGermany, mainly in price lists for vegetables and in groceries.
It seems that the penny symbol never has been dropped officially - just only because of its current absenceon typewriter and PC keyboards and because of the increase in most prices - away from the pennies into
the marks - the usage of that symbol has dramatically decreased. And right now it is not any more taught
in schools.
However, if commercial German texts from before 1960 are going to be encoded in UNICODE it isan indispensable symbol resp. letter lCollected Evidence (what 1 found within the past two weeks)
Besides the ,,German Penny Symbol" in some of the texts also the ,,German Mark Symbol" (.Scnpt
Capital Letter M" = U+2133) can be seen, and also the German Pound Symbol" (.Script L B BarSymbol", for which 1 want to send you another application).
1. Very old appearance engraved on a wooden calculation table (from Basel/Switzerl and in the fifteenth
century). The shape is a ,,D with tail".
2. Very old appearance in a handwritten document (from StraubingiBavaria, 1426 A.D.) The differenceof the normal D and the Penny Symbol is only the tail.
The text of the second paragraph is:
Item an sambstag vor Elisabeth sandt di lannd
schaft zu meinem gnedigen hren hertzog Emsten
hen:zog Wilhalm und hertzog Heinrichen, lantg’v’e
Johannsen Hannsen Haybeckn1 di zeit vwes und Hans
Konig gem Freysingen von mercklicher des lanndes
notdurft wegen. Di haben gehabt 32 Pfardt, sindaussen gewesen 5 tag und haben vtzert aller sachn
x lib vj ~ xviiij d(normal ending d)(normal ending d)(penny symbol with tail )That is:10 pound, 6 shilling, and 19 pence.
3. Very old appearance in a handwritten document (from Reichenbach/Bavaria, 1572 A. D.).
Thetextendswith: 9199f 4~ 251/2d (=25.5pence).
4. Appearance on the keyboard of the first type-segment writing machine ,,HALL" 1880, New York(version for German with umlauts a, o’~, u’~, and WITH the penny symbol, but WITHOUT theGerman ,,~" = ,,Latin Small Letter Sharp S" resp. U+OODF, which was written ,,sz" at that time).
5. Appearance on one of the first ,,full keyboard" typewriters: Smith Premier", around 1890.
6. Appearance in newspaper advertisements (1896) together with Fraktur font. The bold text in thelower left is: Fettes, junges Rindfleisch per Pfd. 60 . u. Schweinefleisch per Pfd. 554 (Greasy
young beef per pound 60 pence and pork per pound 55 pence)
7. Appearance in newspaper advertisements (1896) together with Fraktur font. Identical to the sample
before, more enlarged.
8. Appearance in newspaper advertisements (1896) together with Fraktur font. The text in the line withthe penny symbol is: ,Anfang 1/2 8 Uhr. Eintritt 25(Start 7:30 o’clock, Entry 25 pence)

9. Appearance in newspaper advertisements (1897) together with Fraktur font.
Several monetary information about the balance of a cooperative is given. Extensive use of the,,German Mark Symbol" together with the ,,German Penny Symbol".
10. Appearance on a typewriter ,,The Chicago" (constructed 1898 in U.S.A). See photos*. The German
Penny Symbol is located above the ,,X" in the lower row.
11. Appearance on a typewriter Perko" (constructed 1912 in Dresden/Germany). See photos*. The
German Penny Symbol is located above the ,,N" in the lower row.
12. Appearance on a typewriter Triumph" (constructed 1918 in NumberglGermany). See photos*. The

German Penny Symbol is located above the a" in the upper right corner.
13. Appearance on a typewriter ,1AdIer" (constructed 1922 in Frankfurt/Germany). See photos*. The
German Penny Symbol is located UNDER the ,,N’ in the lower row.
Sorry, this photograph is not very good.
14. Appearance on a cigarette vending machine (constructed 1925 in Berlin/Germany) On the right sideof every of the four glass windows the following text is written:
1,61 5 Stuck1 EINWURF1 2 x 10~ (61 5 pieces, INSERTION SLOT, 2 x 10 pence)
15. Appearance on a typewriter ,,Underwood" (constructed 1926 in U.S.A.). See photos*. The German
Penny Symbol is located above the ,,3/4" character in the upper row.
16. Appearance on a typewriter Mignon" (constructed 1930 in Berlin/Germany). See photos*.
A similar type was built already since 1904. This machine prints extra big letters, but can bechanged to small letters by exchanging the type cylinder that can be seen in the 3rd photo.
The German Penny Symbol appears on the left side (in the same column as the GermanMark Symbol" and the German Pound 5y~~~u)17. Appearance on a jewelry vending machine (1936).
The inscription on the left of the vending machine is: [insert 2 x 10[coins]

18. Appearance in an advertisement of ,,Spaltu aspirins in a monthly magazine (1953). The text is:
1,10 Stck. 75"(10 pieces 75 pence).

19. Appearance in another advertisement of ,,SpaIt" aspirins (1954).
20. Appearance in a book (printed 1958). The text contains the following phrase:
denanus as abbreviation for Pfennig, that we even today still do write as ~, as a flowery d."
21. Appearance in the German encyclopedia ,,Brockhaus" (1972) in the article about ,,Pfennig".

* These photos were taken by me last week in the ,,Deutsches Schreibmaschinenmuseum’ (Germantypewriter museum) in Bayreuth/Germany with the kind permission of the museum.

Amberg im Unterallgau, 10-September - 1998 With best regards

[ Because of the poor state of reproduction of the original paper submission, only an
excerpt of these references has been appended for the WG2 paper. The full submission
was evaluated by the Unicode Technical Committee]

ISO

file:///d%7C/afwdata/x3l2/X3L2-2000-04/n2188-penny.html

ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2 WG2 N 2188
Proposal summary form information
A. Administrative
1. Title: Proposal to add German Penny Symbol
2. Submitter: The Unicode Consortium
3. Status: Liaison
4. Date: 2000-03-14
5. Related documents: L2/98-309 (excerpts attached)
6. This is a complete proposal
B. Technical General
1.a. N/A
1.b. Currency Symbols (1) , General Punctuation (1)2. 1 character3.
4. Level 1. No.
5. Repertoire with character names
20B0

GERMAN PENNY SYMBOL

a. yesb. yes
6. Unicode will provide the fonts
7.
8. No
C. Technical - Justification
1. Not submitted before
2. The relevant user communities are represented in the Unicode Consortium
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ISO

file:///d%7C/afwdata/x3l2/X3L2-2000-04/n2188-penny.html

3. See attached documents
4. See attached documents
5. See attached documents
6. YesNo
7. N/A8. No.
9. No.
10. No11. No special properties

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