“Cistercian Monk’s cypher digital clock.
The Cistercians, a Monk order from the 13th century, created a number cypher that was able to map from 0 to 9999 using a single digit. This clock uses a 5x7 LED display to represent the Cistercian numbers to show the time using either the hh:mm format (00:00 to 23:59) or decimal time (0000 to 9999 intervals, work in progress). The clock is also capable of representing the current day and month using a distinct pattern of dots on the matrix.
The Cistercian numeral system, a numeral system that was used by the Cistercian order of monks in the 13th to 15th centuries of the Middle Ages, and has been used sporadically since then. It allowed writing numbers from 1 to 9999 as single compound characters.”