The following list of codes is missing a few, and I've only included the ones for ASCII values 128+, but it should give you an idea of how to do this. Just add or remove codes as necessary. I generated my listing by parsing a random "HTML Character Codes" Google search result. 
use strict;
use warnings;

my %codes = (
    '128' => ['Ä', 'ä'],     '129' => ['Å', 'å'],
+ 
    '130' => ['Ç', 'ç'],   '131' => ['É', 'é']
+, 
    '132' => ['Ñ', 'ñ'],   '133' => ['Ö', 'ö'], 
    '134' => ['Ü', 'ü'],     '135' => ['á', 'á']
+, 
    '136' => ['à', 'à'],   '137' => ['â', 'â'],
+ 
    '138' => ['ä', 'ä'],     '139' => ['ã', 'ã']
+, 
    '140' => ['å', 'å'],    '141' => ['ç', 'ç']
+, 
    '142' => ['é', 'é'],   '143' => ['è', 'è']
+, 
    '144' => ['ê', 'ê'],    '145' => ['ë', 'ë'], 
    '146' => ['í', 'í'],   '147' => ['ì', 'ì']
+, 
    '148' => ['î', 'î'],    '149' => ['ï', 'ï'], 
    '150' => ['ñ', 'ñ'],   '151' => ['ó', 'ó']
+, 
    '152' => ['ò', 'ò'],   '153' => ['ô', 'ô'],
+ 
    '154' => ['ö', 'ö'],     '155' => ['õ', 'õ']
+, 
    '156' => ['ú', 'ú'],   '157' => ['ù', 'ù']
+, 
    '158' => ['û', 'û'],    '159' => ['ü', 'ü'], 
    '160' => ['†', '†'],  '161' => ['ϒ', 'ϒ'],
+ 
    '162' => ['′', '′'],   '163' => ['£', '£'],
+ 
    '164' => ['§', '§'],     '165' => ['•', '•'],
+ 
    '166' => ['¶', '¶'],     '167' => ['♣', '♣']
+, 
    '168' => ['♦', '♦'],   '169' => ['♥', '♥'
+], 
    '170' => ['♠', '♠'],  '171' => ['↔', '↔'],
+ 
    '172' => ['←', '←'],    '173' => ['≠', '≠'], 
    '174' => ['→', '→'],    '175' => ['↓', '↓'],
+ 
    '176' => ['∞', '∞'],   '177' => ['±', '±']
+, 
    '178' => ['≤', '≤'],      '179' => ['≥', '≥'], 
    '180' => ['×', '×'],    '181' => ['∝', '∝'],
+ 
    '182' => ['∂', '∂'],    '183' => ['∑', '∑'], 
    '184' => ['∏', '∏'],    '185' => ['π', 'π'], 
    '186' => ['≡', '≡'],   '187' => ['ª', 'ª'], 
    '188' => ['º', 'º'],     '189' => ['Ω', 'ω'],
+ 
    '190' => ['æ', 'æ'],    '191' => ['↵', '↵']
+, 
    '192' => ['ℵ', 'ℵ'], '193' => ['ℑ', 'ℑ']
+, 
    '194' => ['ℜ', 'ℜ'],    '195' => ['√', '√']
+, 
    '196' => ['⊗', '⊗'],  '197' => ['⊕', '⊕']
+, 
    '198' => ['∅', '∅'],   '199' => ['∩', '∩'], 
    '200' => ['∪', '∪'],     '201' => ['⊃', '⊃'], 
    '202' => [' ', ' '],     '203' => ['⊄', '⊄'],
+ 
    '204' => ['⊂', '⊂'],     '205' => ['⊆', '⊆'],
+ 
    '206' => ['∈', '∈'],    '207' => ['∉', '∉']
+, 
    '208' => ['∠', '∠'],     '209' => ['∇', '∇']
+, 
    '210' => ['“', '“'],   '211' => ['”', '”']
+, 
    '212' => ['‘', '‘'],   '213' => ['’', '’']
+, 
    '214' => ['÷', '÷'],   '215' => ['◊', '◊'], 
    '216' => ['ÿ', 'ÿ'],     '217' => ['∧', '∧'], 
    '218' => ['∨', '∨'],      '219' => ['⇔', '↔'],
+ 
    '220' => ['⇐', '←'],    '221' => ['⇑', '↑'],
+ 
    '222' => ['⇒', '→'],    '223' => ['⇓', '↓'],
+ 
    '224' => ['‡', '†'],  '225' => ['〈', '⟨'],
+ 
    '226' => ['‚', '‚'],   '227' => ['„', '„']
+, 
    '228' => ['‰', '‰'],  '229' => ['Â', 'â'],
+ 
    '230' => ['Ê', 'ê'],    '231' => ['Á', 'á']
+, 
    '232' => ['Ë', 'ë'],     '233' => ['È', 'è']
+, 
    '234' => ['Í', 'í'],   '235' => ['Î', 'î'],
+ 
    '236' => ['Ï', 'ï'],     '237' => ['Ì', 'ì']
+, 
    '238' => ['Ó', 'ó'],   '239' => ['Ô', 'ô'],
+ 
    '241' => ['〉', '⟩'],    '242' => ['Ú', 'ú']
+, 
    '243' => ['Û', 'û'],    '244' => ['Ù', 'ù']
+, 
    '246' => ['ˆ', 'ˆ'],     '247' => ['˜', '˜'],
+ 
    '248' => ['¯', '¯'],     '252' => ['¸', '¸'],
+ 
    '255' => ['š', 'š']
);
my $text = '™£¢??§¶•ª';
$text =~ s/([\x80-\xFF])/$codes{ord($1)}[1]/g;
print $text;

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In reply to Re: Detecting Strange Characters in Text? by TedPride
in thread Detecting Strange Characters in Text? by Anonymous Monk

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