The position where the currency sign or name will be displayed depends on the locale. Still, when you want to define this setting yourself you have to use the display option and provide one of the following constants: Constant Description STANDARD Sets the standard position as defined within the locale RIGHT Displays the currency representation at the right side of the value LEFT Displays the currency representation at the left side of the value Let's assume that your client has again set "en_US" as locale. Using no option the returned value could look like this: 100, ) ); print $currency; // Could return '$ 100' ]]> So by using the default setting the currency (in our case $) could either be rendered left or right from the value. Now let's define a fixed position: 100, 'position' => Zend_Currency::RIGHT, ) ); print $currency; // Could return '100 $'; ]]> Note that in the second snippet the position of USD is fixed regardless of the used locale or currency.