punctuation - Why is the unit of measure placed before the value for currencies? Are there other measures where the unit precedes value?


$1,000 is pronounced as "one thousand dollars". Reading from left to right, it seems like it would make more sense to write the value as: 1,000$. This way the pronunciation of the value follows the way it's written. Every other numerical value I can think of places the unit after the value:



  • 1 kg

  • 1 L

  • 1 m, etc...


I'm not sure if this question fits in with the rest of the questions on this site. But I'd like to know why currencies are so different from other quantities. Not to mention the need to separate groups of three digits with commas.




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