problem with currency signs

Hi guys, Im having problems with the Euro and Pound currency signs and storing them etc... here is my scenario. I have a menu/list of currencies available for selection, HTML below for the signs: $ £ € When listed in the browser they show fine. When I want to save them, they are saved as the actual sign in the DB and not the HTML code for the symbol, which isnt a train smash, however, when I try compare the values in the DB with the predefined list of currency symbols, I get some problems. The below if statement doesnt seem to resolve: if ($row['p_currency'] == "€") //where € is also the value in the DB even if the value is €, or € it still never reverts to true... So is there a special way I should be treating the symbols and maybe a special way I should be storing them? or comparing them? thanks in advance -- Angelo