Custom Currency Formats in Excel

• Microsoft Excel for Windows versions 2.x, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
• Microsoft Excel for OS/2, versions 2.2, 2.21, and 3.0

SUMMARY

Microsoft Excel does not directly support the use of special currency formats, such as foreign currency symbols or the US cents symbol, as standard number format available on the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box (version 5.0) or the Format Number dialog box (versions 2.x, 3.0 and 4.0) However, you can create these formats as custom number formats using the Format Cells dialog box, or the Format Number dialog box.

MORE INFORMATION

ASCII character codes can be used in Microsoft Excel for both Windows and OS/2, while ANSI character codes are only available in Microsoft Excel for Windows. These character codes can be used to enter special characters into Excel. They can be entered directly into the cells or incorporated in custom number formats. Below is a list of common currency symbols followed by a brief explanation of the procedure for using these custom symbols.

   Currency Symbol      ANSI Code             ASCII Code
   ----------------     ---------             ----------

   Japanese yen            165                   157
   British pound           163                   156
   U.S. cent               162                   155

To enter an ASCII character, press the ALT key and type the three-digit code associated withe the ASCII you want. For example, typing ALT+157 also produces the Japanese yen symbol.

These symbols can be used as a custom number format in the Format Cells or Format Number dialog box. You can enter these special characters using the method described above, directly in the Code box in either the Format Cells or the Format Number dialog box, followed by the number format you want to use. (The actual placement of the symbol may vary depending on the desired format.)

For example, to create a custom format that uses the British pound followed by the number, type ALT+0163+0.00; to create a format that uses the U.S. cent symbol after a number that has two decimal digits, type 0.00+ALT+0162.

Swiss francs, French francs, and deutsche marks may also be represented in a custom number format by adding the text "sf", "ff", and "dm", respectively, to the following number format

   #,##0" xx"

These characters may also be entered directly into a cell in a Microsoft Excel worksheet by typing ALT+XXX in the cell. Please see Page 568 of the "Microsoft Windows User's Guide" for a complete list of the available ANSI characters and Page 569 of the "Microsoft Windows User's Guide" for a complete list of the available ASCII Characters.