The Converter
Type 1994 and read MCMXCIV, or type MCMXCIV and read 1994. Every answer comes with its working, and clumsy numerals such as IIII or IC receive a gentle correction rather than a shrug.
Enter the converter
Officina Numerorum Romanorum
The workshop of Roman numerals
A studio for the seven letters
MMCXL
M + M + C + XL = 2140
Convert any number from 1 to 3999 and watch every step being worked. Read the time off a clock that speaks in Roman letters. Carve a year, and a few words beside it, into a plaque of virtual stone that you can keep as an SVG.
Three rooms in the temple
Each room does one job and does it with a little ceremony. Step inside whichever suits the errand.
The Clock
An analog face lettered I to XII, with hands that sweep and a readout that spells the hour in numerals. Choose between the modern IV and the clockmaker's famous IIII.
Read the hourThe Inscription Maker
Set your words and a year on a pediment, tablet or arch in marble, travertine or night stone. Download the plaque as a crisp SVG for engraving, printing or tattoo reference.
Take up the chiselTry a number on the steps
Write on either tablet and the other one answers. For the full working, open the converter.
A whole number from 1 to 3999.
Letters I, V, X, L, C, D and M.
Type on either tablet, or pick one of the examples below.
Seven letters, one colonnade
Everything in the system is built from these seven. Choose a stone to hear its story.
I, one. A single upright stroke, the same mark anyone makes when tallying. Repeat it up to three times and you have II and III; a fourth stroke is where the system reaches for V instead.
Why the studio has this name
A name that adds up
- M1000
- M1000
- C100
- XL50 − 10 = 40
- 2140the sum
MMCXL is 2140, and in five letters it shows all three habits of Roman counting: the first M repeats, the C simply adds, and the final XL subtracts, taking ten away from fifty.
Some readers will know 2140 as the year commonly projected for the last bitcoin to be issued, a figure that follows from the 210,000-block halving schedule and the 21 million cap. We mention it only as a happy coincidence of arithmetic; this studio is about letters, not markets, and the projection is not a promise.
MMCXL is an independent, non-commercial project and is not affiliated with any institution, publisher or company.
Made for people who like letters
Students
Check your homework, then see exactly why an answer is right. The working is laid out place by place, the way a good teacher would chalk it.
Teachers
Project the clock, run the practice drill on the Learn page, or have a class carve the year of their school onto a plaque and argue about interpuncts.
Designers and tattooists
Verify a date before it becomes permanent, then preview it as lettering on stone. Download the SVG as a clean starting point for your own drawing.
Lovers of letters
Read about where the symbols came from, why clocks say IIII and what the Romans did instead of zero. A quiet corner for the curious.