jccantrell (asker): 18:32 Jul 4, 2005: My own thought is that the ' usually designates possessive. For example:
"The 60's greates hits!" gets the apostrophe, but the example above should not. Ruth Henderson: 18:37 Jul 4, 2005: By that logic, it would be a plural possessive, no? - Charlie Bavington: 18:56 Jul 4, 2005: The " '60's' greatest hits "? (one ' because no "19", one old-style to separate the digit and the letter, and one for the plural possesive ? :-) - Mapi: 20:39 Jul 4, 2005: Totally disagree with the CB. But now the question for me is, is it necessary to use the apostrophe BEFORE the numeral? - Charlie Bavington: 08:13 Jul 5, 2005: Mapi - I wasn't being serious, that's what the :-) was for. If I ever saw that I'd think whoever wrote it had a twitch in their finger :-) -
Erklärung: Although widely used, writing it as 60's is in incorrect as this is a saxon genitive and not a plural
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 36 mins (2005-07-04 18:59:57 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Here\'s what Fowler\'s Modern English Usage (3rd ed., 1997) has to say on this subject:
Though once commonly used in the plural of abbreviations and numerals (QC\'s, the 1960\'s), the apostrophe is now best omitted in such circumstances: MAs, MPs, the 1980s, the three Rs, in twos and threes. Except that it is normally used in contexts where its omission might possibly lead to confusion, e.g. dot your i\'s and cross your t\'s; there are three i\'s in inimical; the class of \'61(= 1961).
With the reference and first on the scene. I want to thank everyone for the confirmation.
Now, how do I look this up later in the Kudoz??? 4 KudoZ-Punkte wurden für diese Antwort vergeben
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Erklärung: From the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE Style Manual
8.11. While an apostrophe is used to indicate possession and contractions, it is not generally necessary to use an apostrophe simply to show the plural form of most acronyms, initialisms, or abbreviations, except where clarity and sense demand such inclusion.
...
YWCAs
ABCs
1920s
IOUs
class of ’92 (1992)
spirit of ’76 (1776)
ÍÏÔ in her ’70s (age) - better: in her seventies
ÍÏÔ during the ’20s - better: during the 1920s or during the twenties
Nick Lingris Griechenland Local time: 03:15 Arbeitsgebiet Muttersprache: Griechisch PRO-Punkte in Kategorie: 20
The translation workplace 
Zustimmung (Netto): +9