Deciphering the Code: World Number Systems

Deciphering the Code: World Number Systems.

Numbers are an integral part of coins and currency, and have been for a very long time. Numbers have denoted values, dates and helped to identify rulers. Whether a simple system of dots or more complex they are very tightly entwined.

The start of this article is simply the most common numeral types found on coins shown in a table. These shape and design of these figures can vary and I've done my best to draw them out for you in the most commonly seen forms. If you want to know a little more, please read on as I go into a little more depth.

This is approached from the view of the "Greater Western World" as that's where I'm based and the majority of visitors to this site are from.

Above is a table or the most commonly seen numeral types. Please note that most number systems use a combination of "1" and "0" to make 10. The zeros aren't shown separately, but I'm sure you can work out what they are.

In the Greater Western World (The West) we are very familiar with Arabic Numerals or what we class as "normal" numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, to the point where the average person on the street will confirm that these are "our numbers" that we invented. In actual fact it is believed this number type emerged from India and started being used on European coins in the 1400's. This enabled dates to be sensibly applied to coins as the previous system used was Roman. As an example 1423 would have been MCDXXIII, not too bad, but 1888 was MDCCCLXXVIII which is a bit long for most coins.

Roman Numerals were the standard for western coins long after the Roman Empire had collapsed. Firstly they were used to denote the Ruler e.g. Charles I, Charles II and now Charles III. It's important to note that these are "I's" as in India, not 1's, this doesn't refer to Charles the One Hundred and Eleventh.

The next purpose was to indicate values, 1 of something X of something. Using Charles the second as an example again an I on the portrait side would indicate a Penny, II twopence or half groat, IV  four pence (groat), XII for a Shilling (12 pence) etc. 

Very rarely Roman Numerals were used to indicate dates such as the Victorian "Gothic Florins" such as this example from 1857.

In the usual Roman Numeral world, 4 is indicated as IV (5 minus 1), the only exceptions I know of being on Coins and clock/watch dials. On watches and clocks it was to avoid confusion with VI (6: 5 plus 1), on coins I don't see any other reason than for aesthetics. Having George IIII on some coins would look better than George IV, but during his reign, he had both.

Islamic Numerals cover the majority of other coins minted. Both Islamic systems (Arabian and Iranian) are almost identical other than the numbers 4,5 and 6. Personally, I find this really useful. If I get an unidentified Islamic coin chances are there will be a 1, 2 or 3 in the date (which helps you work out it's Islamic), as soon as you get a 4,5, or 6, you know if you're looking at an Iranian system coin or Arabic System coin. 

Islamic dates work differently. I remember a novice collector getting really excited that they had found an exceptional condition coin for it's age from 1322. It took a while for them to work out that their coin from the Middles Ages was made to a much better standard than anything I had up to the mid 1800's.  The Islamic Calendar works differently to the familiar Gregorian Calendar we know in the west. The date they had worked out, 1322, translates to 1904 in the Gregorian Calendar. The Islamic calendar works on a lunar principal of 7 days a week, 12 months in a year, but the average month is 29 days long. 2024, when this post is being written is year 1445 in the Islamic (Hijri) calendar.

In the interests of international understanding, many Islamic countries started to include Gregorian Dates on their coinage as well. These were either in Islamic numerals or Arabic numerals as the examples below.

The coin on the left (Egypt 2 1/2 Milliemes) shows both the Gregorian (1933) and Islamic (1352) Dates in Islamic Numerals. The coin on the right (Egypt 20 Piastres) shows the Gregorian date (1917) in Arabic Numerals and Islamic date (1335) in Islamic Numerals.

China and Japan both use the same numbering system, but Chinese coins have also had Arabic Numerals included. This mainly due to the influence of other occupying nations. I've found it to be one of the easiest to remember once learned. It is often used for date cycles, such as "year 8 of the reign of".

Laos and Thailand are nations that are geographically close and have shared much of their past. It's no surprise that there are many similarities in their numbering system. They are easy to confuse and particular attention should be paid to the style of the coin.

Burmese writing and numbers on coins is almost unmistakeable. There are no upper of lower case letters and the numbers are of the same size. The numbering system is very similar to that of Bangladesh and a few parts of Thailand, India and China use the same written language. But coins from those nations will all have the greater used numbering system.

Hopefully this has demystified some of these numbering systems for you. Happy hunting and collecting.

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