At 08:49 -0700 2004-06-09, Doug Ewell wrote:
Then I suppose one could use combining sequences. But I remember from the discussion of the austral and guarani signs that precomposed characters were preferred over combining sequences for currency signs. I don't see why that wouldn't be the case for mint marks as well. They are the same type of symbol.
None of the currency signs have a floating diacritic. We tend to avoid the diacritics that go through letters. M with ring above would not fall into that category.
"Not open-ended" in the sense that, as James said, new mint marks are not being created as we speak. The modern trend is to use ordinary letters, or to do away with mint marks altogether.
OK
As to whether the collection is open-ended going back in time, it is possible -- despite centuries of study -- that a previously unknown mint mark could be discovered. This is about as likely as a new Greek letter, say SHO, being discovered and encoded. It is certainly not "open-ended" in the sense of new Han characters being created on the spur of the moment, say for race horses.
OK
Like James, I'm not a collector of ancients (I have exactly one coin minted before 1300) so I don't have the relevant books. I know they are out there. For British coins going back to the 800's or so, Seaby would probably be the best reference. I have another book on British issues (somewhere) that may help.
Without bibliography nothing can be done. My library is impressive, but has limitations. ;-)
How many of them are there? -- Michael Everson * * Everson Typography * * http://www.evertype.com
