Numbers, abbeviations, dual-sense endings and similar nuisances

[Diane]

Thanks so much for those replies.  I am relieved to have the question taken seriously.

So now - how come the iin  or iiin aren't taken as potentially numeric - I mean, apart from Nick Pelling's saying that they read like Latin references? I look at them and think "3 denarii" or "3 drams" or something..

Is it possible to pick out which characters are used as numbers?  I mean if "v' is being used for '5' fairly often in a text, then wouldn't it stand out as over-used when the text was tested against a standard piece of prose in  a given language?

PS. Anyone here know Bactrian?