MCMXCIV. Quick — what year is that?
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Roman numerals survive on clock faces, book chapters, film credits and building foundation stones, which is why being able to read them quickly is still worth something. The system has only seven symbols but two rules that trip people up: repetition adds, and a smaller symbol before a larger one subtracts.
The year variant is the one most people want, because reading a copyright date off a film's end credits is the single most common real encounter with Roman numerals in adult life.
This version: Digits to Roman, up to 1000. Your best score is saved in this browser, so you can come back and try to beat it. Nothing is uploaded and no sign-up is needed.
I is 1, V is 5, X is 10, L is 50, C is 100, D is 500 and M is 1000. Everything else is combinations of those.
Because a smaller symbol placed before a larger one is subtracted. IV is five minus one. Clock faces are the famous exception — many use IIII for visual balance.
3,999 (MMMCMXCIX). Standard Roman numerals have no single symbol beyond M, so larger values need overbars that the system rarely used in practice.