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It might be based on the handwriting standards used in your country. Where I live we were taught at school to draw a horizontal bar on 7 and avoid the serif on

It might be based on the handwriting standards used in your country. Where I live we were taught at school to draw a horizontal bar on 7 and avoid the serif on 1: https://is.mediadelivery.fi/img/468/a93c32e08dae4768869a4bda9f183aeb.jpg https://is.mediadelivery.fi/img/468/a93c32e08dae4768869a4bda... No chance of confusion. This seems to have prompted some to add the serif to their 1 for stylistic reasons or whatever, since it's still distinguishable from 7 with a bar. But then again people following older or newer conventions drop the bar from their 7: https://is.mediadelivery.fi/img/468/46827e3320294f89b12a933830ecda7c.jpg https://is.mediadelivery.fi/img/468/46827e3320294f89b12a9338... This makes a singular 1 with sloppily drawn serif hard to distinguish from a 7 without horizontal bar unless you can also see how the same person draws the other digit in their style.

gajus 2y ago
Updated the article. Thanks for the context
zo1 2y ago
An alternative way, that makes the "1"s a bit less ambiguous, is to draw a bar at the bottom. So even if you put the serif on the 1, and write it sloppy, you still have the bar at the bottom. See the last example in this image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Handwriting_variations%2C_numeral_1.svg/300px-Handwriting_variations%2C_numeral_1.svg.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Ha... Side note to OP and author, the Wikipedia page is pretty handy and has a lot of info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_handwriting_variation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_handwriting_variation
yongjik 2y ago
Where I grew up (Korea), we write 7 with an extra serif at the upper left corner, like this: https://pop.yesform.com/pop/16113 https://pop.yesform.com/pop/16113 It never gets confused with 1, but in America, people were confusing it with 9 (!!), so I had to stop writing it like that. Can't please everybody...
- pests 2y ago
  I can see it as a native-born American. My handwriting has always been pretty sloppy. My 9s come out like your 7s when I don't close the loop properly (I start at the bottom). People confuse my lowercase r's for n's all the time too for a similar reason. Either I loop a little too much or I drag down the overhang so it basically is an n.

gajus 2y ago

Updated the article. Thanks for the context

zo1 2y ago

An alternative way, that makes the "1"s a bit less ambiguous, is to draw a bar at the bottom. So even if you put the serif on the 1, and write it sloppy, you still have the bar at the bottom. See the last example in this image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Handwriting_variations%2C_numeral_1.svg/300px-Handwriting_variations%2C_numeral_1.svg.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Ha... Side note to OP and author, the Wikipedia page is pretty handy and has a lot of info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_handwriting_variation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_handwriting_variation

yongjik 2y ago

Where I grew up (Korea), we write 7 with an extra serif at the upper left corner, like this: https://pop.yesform.com/pop/16113 https://pop.yesform.com/pop/16113 It never gets confused with 1, but in America, people were confusing it with 9 (!!), so I had to stop writing it like that. Can't please everybody...

pests 2y ago
I can see it as a native-born American. My handwriting has always been pretty sloppy. My 9s come out like your 7s when I don't close the loop properly (I start at the bottom). People confuse my lowercase r's for n's all the time too for a similar reason. Either I loop a little too much or I drag down the overhang so it basically is an n.