Old Style Handwriting and
Printers’ Ligatures, &c.
Roman Numerals
roman numerals: a system of writing numbers that
is based on the ancient Roman, rather than the Arabic used in
English-speaking countries today.
Roman Numeral Samples
from
Old Virginia Land
Patents, 1600s
 
Arabic numbers 16 and 1636, but using the
j in place of the 1.
*If the i (or I) is the only
i or is the last in a series of i’s, it may be
written as a j rather than an i (as in the examples above),
a style seen particularly common in old-style writing.
Values
| Arabic |
1 |
5 |
10 |
50 |
100 |
500 |
1,000 |
| Roman |
I* |
V |
X |
L |
C |
D |
M |
Usage
| Name |
Arabic |
Roman |
| one |
1 |
I |
| two |
2 |
II |
| three |
3 |
III |
| four |
4 |
IV |
| five |
5 |
V |
| six |
6 |
VI |
| seven |
7 |
VII |
| eight |
8 |
VIII |
| nine |
9 |
IX |
| ten |
10 |
X |
| eleven |
11 |
XI |
| twelve |
12 |
XII |
| thirteen |
13 |
XIII |
| fourteen |
14 |
XIV |
| fifteen |
15 |
XV |
| sixteen |
16 |
XVI |
| seventeen |
17 |
XVII |
| eighteen |
18 |
XVIII |
| nineteen |
19 |
XIX |
| twenty |
20 |
XX |
| twenty-one &c. |
21 |
XXI |
| thirty |
30 |
XXX |
| forty |
40 |
XL |
| fifty |
50 |
L |
| sixty &c. |
60 |
LX |
| ninety |
90 |
XC |
| one hundred |
100 |
C |
| two hundred etc. |
100 |
CC |
| four hundred |
400 |
CD |
| five hundred |
500 |
D |
| six hundred &c. |
600 |
DC |
| nine hundred |
900 |
CM |
| one thousand |
1000 |
M |
| two thousand &c. |
2,000 |
MM |
Basic Principles
If a number is followed by smaller number, ADD the two
If a number is followed by a larger number, SUBTRACT the small from the large
If a number is followed by number of equal value, ADD the two
If a small number is below a larger number, MULTIPLY the two
Examples
| VI |
6 |
(5 + 1) |
| IX |
9 |
(10 - 1) |
| XX |
20 |
(10 + 10) |
MM
V |
10,000 |
(5 x 2,000) |
| MCDLXXI |
1471 |
(1000 + (500 - 100) + 50 + 10 + 10 + 1) |
| |
