Roman numerals, though rarely used today for anything other than copyright dates were in very common use amongst our ancestors as little as 100 years ago to express the dates on coinage. They convey a sense of classicism and stateliness, and can be a very useful acquisition in the pursuit of numismatic knowledge, especially if your collecting interest is medals or pre-20th century European coinage.

First of all, here is a chart of Roman numerals and their Arabic numeral equivalents:

I – 1

V – 5

X – 10

L – 50

C – 100

D – 500

M – 1,000

Now I will discuss how to apply these to practical use.

American Roman numerals:

If you are using a number such as 50, you simply use the numeral for that number.

In most cases, the number will not be a round number like 50. Whenever a larger numeral is front of a smaller numeral, the two numerals are added together.

EXAMPLE:

CXXVI – 126

If a smaller numeral is in front of a larger numeral, that smaller numeral is subtracted from the larger numeral.

EXAMPLE:

XC – 90

Here’s a list of the more advanced numerals:

IV – 4

IX – 9

XL – 40

XC – 90

CD – 400

CM – 900

With this knowledge, you can translate any coin dated in Roman numerals to Arabic numerals. Here are a few examples:

MCMLXIV – 1964

MDCCCXCIX – 1899

MDCCLXXVI – 1776

European Roman numerals:

The only major difference between European and American Roman numerals is that Europeans sometimes do not use the same Roman numerals for numbers beginning in 4. Instead of subtracting a numeral for a number beginning in 1 from one beginning in 4, some Europeans add four numbers beginning in 1 (such as XXXX instead of XL).

NOTE: As Roman numerals are nearly always used for dates, higher numbers are rarely used. To express a number higher than 1,000 (M), a horizontal line is placed above a numeral, indicating that numeral is 1,000 times it’s normal value (for instance, if a V has a horizontal line over it, it translates to 5,000 instead of 5).

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