Displaying localized currency values is a common task; the Zend_Currency view helper is intended to simply this task. See the Zend_Currency documentation for specifics on this localization feature. In this section, we will focus simply on usage of the view helper. There are several ways to initiate the Currency view helper: Registered, through a previously registered instance in Zend_Registry. Afterwards, through the fluent interface. Directly, through instantiating the class. A registered instance of Zend_Currency is the preferred usage for this helper. Doing so, you can select the currency to be used prior to adding the adapter to the registry. There are several ways to select the desired currency. First, you may simply provide a currency string; alternately, you may specify a locale. The preferred way is to use a locale as this information is automatically detected and selected via the HTTP client headers provided when a user accesses your application, and ensures the currency provided will match their locale. We are speaking of "locales" instead of "languages" because a language may vary based on the geographical region in which it is used. For example, English is spoken in different dialects: British English, American English, etc. As a currency always correlates to a country you must give a fully-qualified locale, which means providing both the language and region. Therefore, we say "locale" instead of "language." To use a registered instance, simply create an instance of Zend_Currency and register it within Zend_Registry using Zend_Currency as its key. currency(1234.56); // this returns '€ 1.234,56' ]]> If you are more familiar with the fluent interface, then you can also create an instance within your view and configure the helper afterwards. To use the fluent interface, create an instance of Zend_Currency, call the helper without a parameter, and call the setCurrency() method. currency()->setCurrency($currency)->currency(1234.56); // this returns '€ 1.234,56' ]]> If you are using the helper without Zend_View then you can also use it directly. currency(1234.56); // this returns '€ 1.234,56' ]]> As already seen, the currency() method is used to return the currency string. Just call it with the value you want to display as a currency. It also accepts some options which may be used to change the behaviour and output of the helper. currency(1234.56); // this returns '€ 1.234,56' echo $helper->currency(1234.56, array('precision' => 1)); // this returns '€ 1.234,6' ]]> For details about the available options, search for Zend_Currency's toCurrency() method.