Currency Symbol [ ɠ / ꞡ / ǥ / other ] #BS

Is it really necessary to use an existing character? I mean, Bitcoin gained an exclusive one with Unicode 10.0 (that one --> ₿), so if Grin succeeds and become a huge known and used currency, it may gain its exclusive one too. That’s why I suggested that logo (Grin Logos for Community Consideration, also attached in this post). It resembles BTC one, and it may be an unique Unicode character futurely, not already used by anything else. It may take some time to happen, but I think it’ll be more worth than using an actually existing one that can eventually already being used for something else now.

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It is easier to find an existing symbol that isn’t used and doesn’t have an associated sound.

It took Bitcoin’s symbol a long time before it was included in unicode, and the symbol is something that it would be ideal to use right away.

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Good evening… given its cleverness, innovativeness and potential, I agree that devising a visual treatment, and the semiotics in general, for the Grin token should be accorded due consideration. That is not to say that it has not been to date, and, as is evident, several suggestions have been made relating to different aspects of the visual treatment. However, the focus has understandably been largely on proving and implementing the technology itself. To help progress the aspects related to the symbology, it may be worth considering them more rigidly from the point of view of the main different use cases (and apologies if this has been done already but I don’t see it). I think the main areas of usage are:

  1. A 3-letter currency code – for use by exchanges will almost certainly be required and one will be foisted upon the token if none is officially put forward by the project leadership.
  2. A symbol for the currency analogous to the $ for dollars, £ for pounds etc. – for making the token easier to denote in a single character i.e. the original reason such symbols evolved in the first place; while it may not be imperative, it would support and strengthen the eventual ‘brand’ for the token for PR purposes and raising awareness in general.
  3. A logotype – for promoting the concept in a more visually appealing way on website livery, promotional materials, stationery etc etc; it is generally accepted that about 65% of people are primarily visual learners and to reach a wider (i.e. not just tech) audience the requirement for visually memorable and appealing representation should not be underestimated.
    This thread seems to deal with the 1st and 2nd of these. I see there is a separate thread dedicated to the logo (logotype) so leaving that to one side I have jotted down a few thoughts on the former 2 cases. I am tending towards the principle that complexity does not necessarily equal profundity, and also trying to use a set of criteria as this may help provide an objective basis for ruling concepts in or out.

1.A 3-letter currency code – for use by exchanges will almost certainly be required and one will be foisted upon the token if none is officially put forward by the project leadership.

Possible criteria? 3 letters, not used by an existing token/currency, as self-evident as possible i.e. one could probably guess at it if one did not already know what it represented.

Possible solutions? The most obvious solution would seem to be GRN

  1. A symbol for the currency analogous to the $ for dollars, £ for pounds etc. – for making the token easier to denote in a single character i.e. the original reason such symbols evolved in the first place; while it may not be imperative, it would help in giving the token a strong brand for PR and raising awareness in general.

Possible criteria?

  1. Easy to write in 1 – 3 strokes maximum
  2. Sufficiently different from an existing token/currency
  3. Has some symbolic reference to the word or concept of Grin
  4. Distinct enough to be quickly recognizable
  5. Is easily reproducible
  6. Part of an existing character set (?) – the point to which the previous posted made ref.
  7. Others?

Possible solutions? Obviously the 2nd last of these criteria limits the possibilities considerably and was not a constraint for bitcoin but would help to ensure more accessibility and usability; if this is not considered necessary, many of the existing suggestions could be viable candidates. Many of these suggestions were based on stylized treatments of the letter ‘g’ in some shape or form, which seems sensible. However, I think several breach one or more of the above criteria.
For example, variations of G/g with vertical bar(s) seem too reminiscent of bitcoin’s symbol and may smack of “me too” or moreover, fail to attribute the originality to Grin that it deserves so opposes the criterion to be sufficiently different
Alternatives applying a horizontal bar(s) have also been suggested but the lowercase ‘g’ versions I saw seem to lack distinctiveness and do not retain the echo of a grinning face that the uppercase G does.
An alternative version I saw with an uppercase G looked difficult to reproduce – any unusual or highly stylized typeface will have this problem. Furthermore, the full length horizontal strikethrough can make the G loose its recognisability and/or resemble the euro (€) symbol.
Retaining the concept of the horizontal bar, a possible tweak could use a shorter floating horizontal bar and examples can be easily enough derived from a standard typeface also which would help to standardize it – here are a few rough ideas:
image

On the other hand, if it was desirable to retain the criterion of using a character from an existing character set, one possible solution could be to use Ğ. This is the latin capital letter G with a Breve; Unicode hex character code: 011E; the breve obviously resembles a smiling mouth, thus providing an extra connection to Grin.

Those are my two grins’ worth for now … I am interested to hear what other contributors think on this not insignificant topic, and particularly if there are other criteria that should be considered, or indeed, if some of those suggested are considered invalid…

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Acually, forget that G with the floating horiztonal bar. The other MW crypto Beam appears to have a denomination equal to 1 x 10^-6 of a Beam called a Groth which uses a symbol very similar to this G with the additional short horizontal bar.

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A comparison table for two of the currency symbol suggestions to date that seem to make most sense to me at any rate …

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VOTE on Grin's currency symbol

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last meeting:

I thought it was the other symbol? Why pick the second from the poll if most everyone was ambivalent between the two?

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Hi @0xb100d, the poll was non-binding. As per the poll instructions:

The vote results will guide a discussion as part of the Jan 17 governance meeting, where a decision will hopefully also be made.

As per the meeting notes, was the symbol that was adopted. You are welcome to independently verify this, the full chat transcript begins here.

As for your question:

Why pick the second from the poll if most everyone was ambivalent between the two?

It’s hard to say why exactly, but this was what happened at the meeting. I guess one symbol had to be picked in the end, and since the vote was non-binding, and several proposals were neck in neck, it was not obvious that the first from the poll would be the final decision.

If you feel this is wrong, you can petition for this decision to be reconsidered. A first step might be to make an argument for your case, and then ask for a point to be added to the agenda of the next governance meeting and see if you gather support for your proposal. Or you can refuse to use the symbol in protest. Or choose your own symbol that you think is the most appropriate and see if it gets adopted. This, and more, is all within your right as a member of the community.

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It is also a symbol that means “Scourge” to past peoples of this earth. A whip. How fitting.

The intent is to get this into the real world. Your suggestion is great because it’s easy for the kids to write at school. Do they still use pencils at school? It’s been awhile. Just make it easy to draw. This is the new world currency system in its infancy. Let’s make it easy on the kids.

Grin is a lantern in the dark. We will all find our way here. Good to meet you.

(I just realize the symbol has been picked. And it was a mighty choice. I do like it).

  1. Our coming was foretold
  2. Cringe
  3. Thanks for brining me here. I will be grateful to you always.

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This symbol seems unnecessarily complicated and confusing.

The process was good and transparent it’s my fault for joining the meeting late but given how close it was I will probably propose more thoughts from the community and present my case. I also missed the opportunity to share the polls on Twitter when they were live which I think would have garnered a larger voting body.

Your organizing abilities are much appreciated, I’m not critiquing just personally much more fond of the first option than the tsu in the long run. I don’t think it calls for protesting outright (yet!).

How about lower-case Koppa from ancient greek alphabet: ϟ

It looks like Harry’s scar, and is simple enough to write. It’s almost like a $ but more wizard-like.

23ϟ

or

ϟ23

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Nice, but may be too similar to number 4.

Good point. However it still is kinda cool.

I’m going to leave this link here for more info about this character: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koppa_(letter)

EDIT:

Ultimately, a reverse of this character would be the best so as not to get confused with the number 4.

EDIT:

I found https://unicode-table.com/en/16F2/ which is a reversed lighting bolt character, but unfortunately, it is limited in support.

Also there is ৸ (BENGALI CURRENCY NUMERATOR ONE LESS THAN THE DENOMINATOR)

23৸

EDIT:

One benefit is that it shows up when searching “currency” on macOS’s “Emoji’s & Symbols” tool.

տ is like an m and w combined: 100տ

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I am late to the party, but I can’t hold my reply to this:

It doesn’t have to be backed by anything. It is scarce. That’s the first step in making something desirable. Grin, as with Bitcoin, or as with Gold, is backed by itself.

They are scarce. Bitcoin is everything that a gold is and even more. It is easy to transport, easy to divide, easy to send/receive etc. etc.

Grin, promises to be everything that Bitcoin is and even more. Easy to scale. Superior in terms of privacy.

I might be wrong in my last conceptualization. But that’s why I am here for. Educate myself.