Key Difference: Dollar is a currency that is used in many western countries and is represented by the ‘$’ sign. Dollar is the common currency of countries such as Australia, Belize, Canada, Hong Kong, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Brunei and the United States. Cent is also a unit of currency that is usually used along with dollar. Cent is actually one hundredth of a dollar and is represented by a small case c with a forward slash or a vertical slash through the c.

Dollar and cent are actually related concepts as cent is basically used to signify one hundredth of a dollar. So, 100 cents would equal a dollar. The value of dollars can change depending on the country it is in, but each dollar will always equal a 100 cents. It can be confusing for many people to understand, which each country using it’s own currency and denominations.

Dollar is a currency that is used in many western countries and is represented by the ‘$’ sign. Dollar is the common currency of countries such as Australia, Belize, Canada, Hong Kong, Namibia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Brunei and the United States. 

One dollar is usually worth 100 cents. The term ‘dollar’ comes from Bohemia during the 1520, when the country started minting coins from silver in Joachimsthal. The coin was called ‘Joachimsthaler’, which was shortened to thaler or taler. This was further incorporated into many different languages and was adapted in English as ‘dollar’ from the Dutch ‘daler’. The United States adopted dollars following the American Revolution, when Spanish dollars had gained quite significance in the country’s trade. The dollar sign has developed from the sign for the Spanish peso, which was marked as p^s, which was later developed by writing the S over the p, which created a symbol similar to $ and this was then incorporated as the official symbol of the currency.

Cent is also a unit of currency that is usually used along with dollar. Cent is actually one hundredth of a dollar and is represented by a small case c with a forward slash or a vertical slash through the c. The term ‘cent’ is derived from the Latin word ‘centum’, meaning hundred. The cent in some countries such as the US and Canada is also known as ‘penny’. Countries all over the world create coins for values below 1, while reserving banknotes for higher values. Hence, in the US, cent is small copper coin that can be denoted as 1c or US$0.01. Words related to cents, derived from centesimal referring to currencies include: centime, centesimo and centavo.

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