Japanese abacus. The right side represents 1,234,567,890 in bi-quinary: each column is one digit, with the lower beads representing "ones" and the upper beads "fives".
Bi-quinary coded decimal is a numeral encoding scheme used in many abacuses and in some early computers, notably the Colossus.[2] The term bi-quinary indicates that the code comprises both a two-state (bi) and a five-state (quinary) component. The encoding resembles that used by many abacuses, with four beads indicating the five values either from 0 through 4 or from 5 through 9 and another bead indicating which of those ranges (which can alternatively be thought of as +5).
Several human languages, most notably Fula and Wolof also use biquinary systems. For example, the Fula word for 6, jowi e go'o, literally means five [plus] one. Roman numerals use a symbolic, rather than positional, bi-quinary base, even though Latin is completely decimal.
The Korean finger counting system Chisanbop uses a bi-quinary system, where each finger represents a one and a thumb represents a five, allowing one to count from 0 to 99 with two hands.
One advantage of one bi-quinary encoding scheme on digital computers is that it must have two bits set (one in the binary field and one in the quinary field), providing a built-in checksum to verify if the number is valid or not. (Stuck bits happened frequently with computers using mechanical relays.)
Examples
Several different representations of bi-quinary coded decimal have been used by different machines. The two-state component is encoded as one or two bits, and the five-state component is encoded using three to five bits. Some examples are:
The IBM 650 uses seven bits: two bi bits (0 and 5) and five quinary bits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4), with error checking.
Exactly one bi bit and one quinary bit is set in a valid digit. The bi-quinary encoding of the internal workings of the machine are evident in the arrangement of its lights – the bi bits form the top of a T for each digit, and the quinary bits form the vertical stem.
IBM 650 front panel while running, with active bits just discernibleClose-up of IBM 650 indicators while running, with active bits visible
0
10-10000
1
10-01000
2
10-00100
3
10-00010
4
10-00001
5
01-10000
6
01-01000
7
01-00100
8
01-00010
9
01-00001
Remington Rand 409
The Remington Rand 409 has five bits: one quinary bit (tube) for each of 1, 3, 5, and 7 - only one of these would be on at the time. The fifth bi bit represented 9 if none of the others were on; otherwise it added 1 to the value represented by the other quinary bit. The machine was sold in the two models UNIVAC 60 and UNIVAC 120.
^ abLedley, Robert Steven; Rotolo, Louis S.; Wilson, James Bruce (1960). "Part 4. Logical Design of Digital-Computer Circuitry; Chapter 15. Serial Arithmetic Operations; Chapter 15-7. Additional Topics". Digital Computer and Control Engineering(PDF). McGraw-Hill Electrical and Electronic Engineering Series (1 ed.). New York, US: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. (printer: The Maple Press Company, York, Pennsylvania, US). pp. 517–518. ISBN0-07036981-X. ISSN2574-7916. LCCN59015055. OCLC1033638267. OL5776493M. SBN07036981-X. ISBN978-0-07036981-8. ark:/13960/t72v3b312. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2021-02-19. Retrieved 2021-02-19. p. 518: […] The use of the biquinary code in this respect is typical. The binary part (i.e., the most significant bit) and the quinary part (the other 4 bits) are first added separately; then the quinary carry is added to the binary part. If a binary carry is generated, this is propagated to the quinary part of the next decimal digit to the left. […]{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)[1] (xxiv+835+1 pages)
^Berger, Erich R. (1962). "1.3.3. Die Codierung von Zahlen". Written at Karlsruhe, Germany. In Steinbuch, Karl W. (ed.). Taschenbuch der Nachrichtenverarbeitung (in German) (1 ed.). Berlin / Göttingen / New York: Springer-Verlag OHG. pp. 68–75. LCCN62-14511.
^Dokter, Folkert; Steinhauer, Jürgen (1975) [1969]. Digitale Elektronik in der Meßtechnik und Datenverarbeitung: Theoretische Grundlagen und Schaltungstechnik. Philips Fachbücher (in German). Vol. I (improved and extended 5th ed.). Hamburg, Germany: Deutsche Philips GmbH. p. 50. ISBN3-87145-272-6. (xii+327+3 pages) (NB. The German edition of volume I was published in 1969, 1971, two editions in 1972, and 1975. Volume II was published in 1970, 1972, 1973, and 1975.)
