[i18n-activity] Currency symbol handling (#1044)

aphillips has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/i18n-activity:

== Currency symbol handling ==
5. PaymentCurrencyAmount dictionary 
https://www.w3.org/TR/2020/CR-payment-request-20201203/#paymentcurrencyamount-dictionary

>  However, the set of combinations of currency code for which localized currency symbols are available is implementation dependent. Where a localized currency symbol is not available, a user agent SHOULD use U+00A4 (¤) for formatting. User agents MAY format the display of the currency member to adhere to OS conventions (e.g., for localization purposes). 

And also:

> Current implementations will therefore allow the use of well-formed currency codes that are not part of the official [ISO4217] list (e.g., XBT, XRP, etc.). If the provided code is a currency that the browser knows how to display, then an implementation will generally display the appropriate currency symbol in the user interface (e.g., "USD" is shown as "$", "GBP" is "£", and the non-standard "XBT" could be shown as "Ƀ"). When a code cannot be matched, the specification recommends browsers show a scarab "¤". 

Several issues here:

1. (editorial nit) Please don't refer to U+00A4 informally ("show a scarab"). It is a good idea to use the Unicode name and/or U+ notation (as you do elsewhere) for clarity.
2. Currency display is a complex topic and currency symbols have a certain amount of range, even within a given currency. It seems like it would be more effective to allow the user agent to localize the display of the currency and its value in a localized manner (noting that the language of the context, such as the web page, where the value is rendered constitutes a locale). 
3. Note that some symbols, such as (particularly) `$` are ambiguous due to use across a number of different currencies.

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Instructions: 

This follows the process at https://w3c.github.io/i18n-activity/guidelines/review-instructions.html

1. **CREATE A PROPOSED REVIEW COMMENT BY REPLACING THE PROMPTS ABOVE THIS PARAGRAPH, BUT LEAVE THIS PARAGRAPH INTACT AS WELL AS THE TEXT BELOW IT** Then ask the i18n WG to review your comment.

2. Set a label to identify the spec. This starts with s: followed by the spec's short name. If you are unable to do that, ask a W3C staffer to help.

3. After discussion with the i18n WG, raise this issue to the WG that owns the spec. Use the text above this para as the basis for that comment.

4. Replace the text 'link_to_issue_raised' below with a link to the place you raised the issue. Do NOT remove the initial '§ '.

5. Edit this issue to remove this paragraph and ALL THE TEXT ABOVE IT.

6. Remove the 'pending' label.



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Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/i18n-activity/issues/1044 using your GitHub account


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Received on Tuesday, 16 February 2021 00:44:11 UTC