Cent

A cent is a monetary unit that represents one hundredth of a base unit of currency. The term derives from the Latin centum, meaning hundred, and is used in various languages to denote a subunit of larger currencies such as the euro or the dollar. In everyday finance, prices are often quoted to the nearest cent.

In the United States, one cent equals one hundredth of a dollar. The coin is commonly known as a penny, and its obverse traditionally bears the image of Abraham Lincoln. Since 1982, the U.S. cent has been made primarily of zinc with a copper plating, after earlier years used almost entirely copper. The cent is a low-denomination coin for everyday transactions and is frequently discussed in debates about cash usage and pricing.

In the euro area, the cent is the subunit of the euro. There are six cent coins: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50, all of which are coins, with the euro itself used for larger denominations such as 1 and 2 euros. The cent therefore functions as the smallest common unit in the common currency system used by many European Union member states.

Other currencies use the cent or similar terms for their subunits, though naming varies by language. For example, some countries have phased out or reduced the use of very small denominations in daily circulation. The cent is also used as the basis for the metric prefix centi-, which denotes one hundredth of a unit, a usage separate from currency.

The cent is typically denoted by the symbol c or the cent sign ¢ in certain contexts, and remains a familiar concept in pricing, finance, and monetary history.