History books.

history shmistory! ;^P

Is there any reason it should still be included in a font?

Two good reasons:

1. It is a character in many standard 8-bit codepages, so if you are making a font that claims support for e.g. the Mac Roman or Windows 1252 codepages you had better include it.

2. Some users, particularly on the Mac, have begun using the florin symbol as an abbreviation for 'folder'.

Note that the Unicode codepoint for the florin unifies this currency symbol with a hooked f, which is a letter in the alphabet of many African languages. This can cause design issues in fonts for African languages, since the hooked f is not always sloped in the way the florin usually is, but is harmonised to the style of the other letters in the typeface.

It's a standard character, so it's gotta be there, no matter how people use it or not.

The only non-intuitive but crucial thing about the Florin seems to be that it should really be slanted; an upright one is sort of a stand-alone unorthodox design statement; not suitable for a text font.

BTW, the Florin-as-folder usage is quite old, at least 10 years or something.

> the Unicode codepoint for the florin unifies this currency symbol with a hooked f

That's kind of dumb.
Will it be fixed?

hhp

Note that the Unicode codepoint for the florin unifies this currency symbol with a hooked f, which is a letter in the alphabet of many African languages...

so, John, what’s the best way around this dilemma?

bump

This is more of a build issue, than a design issue. Response posted here.

By the way, Florian Hardwig talks a bit about the florin symbol in this Type ID Pop Quiz — you have to scroll down, almost to the bottom of the first page, to see his comments.