Do you need a currency symbol?

Probably. These symbols convey that a number is a price.

But in some contexts, removing these symbols can boost purchases. An upscale restaurant in NY boosted their average order value after they removed currency symbols from their menu (Yang et al., 2009).

Example in a restaurant near me:

Why It Works

• Less Pain. It feels like we're no longer spending cash. Plus, removing these symbols will reduce the amount of ink in your price — less ink, less pain (Coulter & Coulter, 2005).
• Better UX. Currency symbols look like digits, forcing customers to disentangle them while comparing prices. Even if you don't remove these symbols, you might need to adjust their size, color, or position so that customers can easily distinguish them from remaining digits. Example from Walmart:

Caveats

• Depends on Font. Try fonts with greater distinction between digits and currency symbols, perhaps with more spacing or vertical slashes that extend fully through symbols. Here's $50 in a few common fonts:

• Coulter, K. S., & Coulter, R. A. (2005). Size does matter: The effects of magnitude representation congruency on price perceptions and purchase likelihood. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15(1), 64-76.
• Yang, S. S., Kimes, S. E., & Sessarego, M. M. (2009). Menu price presentation influences on consumer purchase behavior in restaurants. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(1), 157-160.