diff --git a/spacy/attrs.pyx b/spacy/attrs.pyx
index 893ec0845..d4e8a38c5 100644
--- a/spacy/attrs.pyx
+++ b/spacy/attrs.pyx
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ IDS = {
     "IS_QUOTE": IS_QUOTE,
     "IS_LEFT_PUNCT": IS_LEFT_PUNCT,
     "IS_RIGHT_PUNCT": IS_RIGHT_PUNCT,
-    "FLAG18": FLAG18,
+    "IS_CURRENCY": IS_CURRENCY,
     "FLAG19": FLAG19,
     "FLAG20": FLAG20,
     "FLAG21": FLAG21,
diff --git a/spacy/lang/lex_attrs.py b/spacy/lang/lex_attrs.py
index c3bb4a8ff..f1279f035 100644
--- a/spacy/lang/lex_attrs.py
+++ b/spacy/lang/lex_attrs.py
@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@ def is_right_punct(text):
     return text in right_punct
 
 
+def is_currency(text):
+    # can be overwritten by lang with list of currency words, e.g. dollar, euro
+    for char in text:
+        if unicodedata.category(char) != 'Sc':
+            return False
+    return True
+
+
 def like_email(text):
     return bool(_like_email(text))
 
@@ -164,5 +172,6 @@ LEX_ATTRS = {
     attrs.IS_QUOTE: is_quote,
     attrs.IS_LEFT_PUNCT: is_left_punct,
     attrs.IS_RIGHT_PUNCT: is_right_punct,
+    attrs.IS_CURRENCY: is_currency,
     attrs.LIKE_URL: like_url
 }