I wondered about this years ago when I was in school. I find myself using both styles but not consciously in my day to day writing but if I am writing an address I try to be very precise. Again, Postcrossing teaches us something about the world and cultures. Winner!
I cross my 7s and I live in Australia, but Iād say maybe only a minority of people here do.
It will never confuse an Australian postcard recipient though ā itās common enough to be an unsurprising feature of someoneās handwriting.
Really? I learned to write the 7 crossed in school and so did my children 30 years laterā¦ 
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i think you mean this topic.
also. i cross my 7 but cards from people that donāt cross their 7 arrive all perfectly, so i wouldnāt worry too much about that.
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Youāre right. Some schools teach it with, some without 
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Hello, in French school we learn to cross the 7 
I learnt it that way (80s) , my son, too (2014).
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When I started to get letters from abroad I was surprised how people in other countries write this number
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For what itās worth: In the Netherlands, itās crossed.
Thank you, @clubpostcards! My greatest worry was for the Eastern countries. I will write my 7ās going to Japan, China, etc. like you show in your example. 
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@Tinkatutu, youāre right about the 1ās. Iāve noticed that many European Postcrossers write their 1ās almost like a teepee. I should start adding the āhalf hatā (I like that term) to my 1ās as well. Thanks.
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@Tetsuko, yes, this is actually my concern. People can figure it out, yes, but machines that read the numbers might misread. Iām afraid a European machine might read a 7 as a 1, and now Iām thinking they might read a 1 as an I as well.
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Thanks for all of the input, everyone! Itās all been very helpful!
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Hopefully I can reassure you that at least Austrian machines do not misread the 7 and the 1. I have already received many cards from the USA. 
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At least the last wouldnāt be a problem for German addresses. Our PLZ (Postleitzahl) - the part of the address which directs to a region/part of city - only contains numbers, no intermixing of 1 and I.
Well okay the house number can contain an added letter like a, b,ā¦ And Iāve seen houses with an i or j, too, for example āBernhardstr. 13iā, but on this level the mail carrier can handle it.
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Yes! My postcode has a 7 in it and when the 7 is written uncrossed, German Post always!!! put a BIG sticker on the written address (and sometimes on some parts of the message) with the message that they had to search for the right address ā¦
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I never cross the 7 but I do make sure it is written clearly so it canāt be mistaken for a 1.
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I didnāt know it was common hereā¦I never heard of this until I started Postcrossing. I still write it the normal way, as I see it on my phone or computer: 7
I used to write 7 but when I encounter elderly people or people with eye sight issue, I started to crossed the number seven. Here in Malaysia, we write 7 and crossed seven. Both are good to use.
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