In Winders:
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Fonts

"Bitstream Vera Sans Mono (True Type)" has the "half-swastika" lower-case "L". "Bitstream Vera Serif (True Type)" and "Bitstream Vera Sans (True Type)" don't (rather they look like a typewriter "1" and a single vertical line, respectively).

I suspect some sort of font mapping is going on that causes the differences you're seeing.

[edit: typos]

Cheers,
Scott.