Nice article. Reading through the linked Wikipedia page[1] on ¤ (the international currency symbol), I was amazed at this part of history on symbolic innovations for great socialist profit!:

In some versions of BASIC (notably in Soviet versions and ABC BASIC), the currency sign was used for string variables instead of the dollar sign. It was located on the keyboard and the character set table at the same position in many national keyboards (like Scandinavian) and eq versions of 7-bit ISO/IEC 646 ASCII, as the dollar sign is in US-ASCII.

PS. This made me think of ₪, the sign for Israeli New Shekel. I wonder what percentage of currency symbols are completely symmetrical, and whether that derives from some kind of innate psychological quality that we associate with symmetry? IIRC, symmetry is oft-linked to beauty in the subconscious. (Of course, centrally issued fractional-reserve currencies nationally systematize usury, an activity universally shunned by all the world's monotheistic traditions, including Judaism: There are three Biblical passages which forbid the taking of interest in the case of "brothers," but which permit, or seemingly enjoin, it when the borrower is a Gentile [...] Lending on usury or increase is classed by Ezekiel [...] among the worst of sins. [...] abominations [...] be afraid of thy God [...] "...surely suffer death; his blood is upon him"; hence the lender on interest is compared to the shedder of blood. ... more @ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14615-usury)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C2%A4

Tom Jennings did something similar which only goes up through ASCII: http://www.wps.com/J/codes/

You might also know Tom Jennings from having created Fidonet and having written the BIOS which became the basis for Phoenix Technologies BIOS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Jennings