Greetings and question about dates.

[Karavia]

My first post on this forum.
Hello to all and huge gratitude for the wealth of information found here.
I recently started collecting Indian Mughal and Persian coins. Such beautiful designs and so much to learn!
One thing that is puzzling: the calligraphy is read right to left correct? Why are dates read left to right? Perhaps someone could explain this to me. Thank you!
Peter

[THCoins]

Hello, and welcome to the forum !
The direction of writing numbers in fact also could be seen as from right to left: starting with units, then decades and then centuries. The fact that many people read this from left to right does not change the meaning.

[Figleaf]

The direction of the numbers is in the eye of the beholder. In English, 123 is one hundred and twenty three. In Arabic, it would be three and twenty and one hundred. Therefore, for Arabic readers, the numbers are read right to left, just as the letters and they are as much in the right order as latin numbers are in the right order for you.

Just to confuse you, in German the number would be one hundred three and twenty.

Peter

[Karavia]

Aha! Indeed my cultural bias. Wonderful to understand this. Thanks for your replies.
Peter