α ́ β ́ γ ́ δ ́ ε ́
Greek numerals
A summing system in base 10, with no zero.
StructureAdditive — signs are summed; there are no columns, so nothing can be empty
Base10
ZeroNone — the system never needs one
Regionthe Greek-writing world
DatesMilesian system from c. 6th c. BCE; still used for ordinals
UnicodeU+0370–U+03FF with U+0374 numeral sign
Status living
Curatorial note
The alphabet doing double duty: each letter carries a value, marked with a keraia. Twenty-four letters do not cover the nine units, nine tens and nine hundreds a decimal system needs, so three archaic letters were kept in the count purely as numerals — digamma, koppa and sampi, retained for arithmetic long after they had stopped being sounds. Still used in Greece for chapters, monarchs and ordinals.
Specimen
The digits, at size 56 α ́ β ́ γ ́ δ ́ ε ́
40 α ́ β ́ γ ́ δ ́ ε ́
26 α ́ β ́ γ ́ δ ́ ε ́
17 α ́ β ́ γ ́ δ ́ ε ́