Clocks traditionally have IIII instead of IV.  As far as I can tell, no one
really knows why.  Nine is always IX.

On Fri, Jun 16, 2017 at 11:16 PM, CM Poncelet <[email protected]> wrote:

> FWIW I had an analog wall-clock in the late-50's / early-60's that
> showed 4 as IIII - not IV. I cannot remember what its 9 was. Using
> letters as numerals prevented the Romans and Greeks etc. from inventing
> algebra. <grin> CP
>

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