Ionic (alphabetic) numerals
From about the 4th century BC, Greeks used the letters of the alphabet as numbers: nine letters for the units, nine for the tens and nine for the hundreds. The 24-letter alphabet was three short, so three archaic letters filled the gaps: stigma or digamma (ϛ) for 6, koppa (ϟ) for 90 and sampi (ϡ) for 900. A mark called a keraia (ʹ) after the letters shows they are a number, and a lower mark (͵) before a letter multiplies it by 1,000. 2026 is ͵βκϛʹ: 2,000 + 20 + 6.
Attic (acrophonic) numerals
The older Attic system, used in Athens from about the 7th century BC, took the first letter of each number word: Π for pente (5), Δ for deka (10), Η for hekaton (100), Χ for chilioi (1,000) and Μ for myrioi (10,000). Combined signs such as 𐅄 (Π with Δ inside, 50) multiplied the inner value by five. It was additive, like Roman numerals, and survived on inscriptions and in accounts until alphabetic numerals replaced it.
| Number | Ionic | Attic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | αʹ | Ι |
| 5 | εʹ | Π |
| 10 | ιʹ | Δ |
| 50 | νʹ | 𐅄 |
| 99 | ϟθʹ | 𐅄ΔΔΔΔΠΙΙΙΙ |
| 100 | ρʹ | Η |
| 500 | φʹ | 𐅅 |
| 666 | χξϛʹ | 𐅅Η𐅄ΔΠΙ |
| 1,000 | ͵α | Χ |
| 1,453 | ͵αυνγʹ | ΧΗΗΗΗ𐅄ΙΙΙ |
| 2,026 | ͵βκϛʹ | ΧΧΔΔΠΙ |
| 5,000 | ͵ε | 𐅆 |
Still in use
Modern Greece still uses alphabetic numerals the way English uses Roman numerals: for kings and popes, chapters, school grades and the names of years at school. Greek letters also live on as ordinal labels, from alpha versions of software to the α and β of statistics.