[1951Boomer]

I haven’t seen this addressed anywhere: How long has the number 7 typically had a line through it to insure that it is read as a seven and not something else? I notice this in the BC application number. How far back does this practice go? I never really paid attention to this little trick until I noticed that my mathematician husband always puts a line through his sevens. Guess I could ask him.

[Jemian]

I seem to remember it being done by some people in the mid- to late-60s. Could be earlier than that.

[9YearLurker]

It goes back a ways and I learned it (in the ‘70s) as a French way of writing ‘7’.

[patriot08]

Interesting. I don’t remember seeing that until lately

[markomalley]

The security writing on the paper is the first hint.

Second, look at the coat of arms.

A real British Coat of Arms looks like this:

Note the horn is cut off the unicorn on the right on the paper in question.

Third, there are two separate places cited as place of birth. Above, it said Coast Provincial Hospital. But in Block 2, it said King George VI hospital (which is in Nairobi, not Mombasa).

Also, there are two separate styles of handwritten "7" -- one in the block 7 (time of birth: 1137), one in the application number.

[afraidfortherepublic]

How long has the number 7 typically had a line through it to insure that it is read as a seven and not something else? I notice this in the BC application number.

7 with a line through it is a European (also English) and has been used since the earlist days of our colonies. Check out old account books and you will see it frequently. Perhaps the better question would be, when did we STOP using a line through our 7s? LOL.

[mamelukesabre]

I believe that was invented by the french many generations ago and gradually was adopted by scientists everywhere. Americans are likely the only people on the planet that don’t use it.

[altair]

I haven’t seen this addressed anywhere: How long has the number 7 typically had a line through it to insure that it is read as a seven and not something else? I notice this in the BC application number. How far back does this practice go?

Good question. It goes a long ways back, well before OCR. I picked it up in the early 70s when I was first being taught computers. Its usage was typical in the computer books of that time, so I guess it goes back much farther than that.