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My German passport number contains an O (letter) or 0 (number), but I cannot tell which one. Is there a list of characters that are used for German passport numbers, or more concretely, can someone tell me which character is shown below?

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    Sometimes you can work it out on the machine readable row or if still there a sticker which was put on when they made it for you. On my passport they used a different font and the difference between O and 0 was easier to see.
    – Willeke ♦
    Dec 8, 2016 at 19:04
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    Never blur information to hide it. Always use opaque boxes. Blurring can be reversed.
    – isanae
    Dec 9, 2016 at 0:15
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    @andynitrox Did you just change a set of blurred pictures with another set of blurred pictures?
    – Dmitry Grigoryev
    Dec 9, 2016 at 9:10
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    Passport "number"
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Dec 9, 2016 at 11:38
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    You may want to delete the old image versions from imgur as well, they're still there, and being accessible (in a sense of "publicly visible") via the "edited 2 hours ago" link.
    – Damon
    Dec 9, 2016 at 12:14

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If you trust Wikipedia, it's a zero. I can't get any more specific with sourcing, as my German is pretty poor and I can't go through the sources listed.

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    Thank you! I would like to add that an official source (bmi.bund.de) supports this. All letters except for vowels and B, D, Q and S are used to avoid the formation of words and to ensure everything is machine readable.
    – DK2AX
    Dec 8, 2016 at 19:12
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    @WGroleau please read what andy said: vowels are not used so it can only be a 0. Apparently numbers are more important than letters.
    – user4188
    Dec 8, 2016 at 19:44
  • Ha, guess I should delete that comment! (I once worked in an office where I frequently had to call someone up to find out "Is this a 'G' or a '6'?")
    – WGroleau
    Dec 8, 2016 at 22:16
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To quote the Verordnung zur Durchführung des Passgesetzes (Passverordnung – PassV), the regulation for the implementation of the passport law:

Anlage 11 Formale Anforderungen an die Einträge in Pässe im Sinne des § 1 Absatz 2 des Passgesetzes

[…]

  1. Die alphanumerische Seriennummer des Reisepasses, Dienstpasses und Diplomatenpasses wird ausschließlich aus den Buchstaben C, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T, V, W, X, Y, Z und den Ziffern 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 gebildet. Beim Kinderreisepass, vorläufigen Reisepass, vorläufigen Dienstpass und vorläufigen Diplomatenpass besteht die Seriennummer aus einem Serienbuchstaben und sieben Ziffern.

Translated:

Appendix 11: formal requirements of the entries in passports according to § 1 section 2 of the passport law

[…]

  1. The alphanumeric serial number of a passport, an official passport and a diplomatic passport is formed exclusively with the letters C, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T, V, W, X, Y, Z and the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The serial number of a child’s passport, preliminary passport, preliminary official passport or a preliminary diplomatic passport consists of a serial letter and seven digits.

Thus, the letter O (Oh) is not used and it can only be a digit 0 (zero).

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  • Last line is it letter '0' or 'O'? My eyes are not good at this time of the day.
    – vasin1987
    Dec 9, 2016 at 16:39
  • @vasin1987 Well, I personally would never refer to zero as a letter. Also, that’s why it’s held in monospace because monospace fonts typically differentiate by slashing the zero.
    – Jan
    Dec 9, 2016 at 19:17
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    @Jan in my browser, the SO "normal text" proportional font renders O and 0 very distinctly (owing in part, I presume, to their different widths). The "code sample" monospace font renders the two characters so similarly that I cannot tell them apart unless they are immediately adjacent to one another. I am only familiar with a couple of monospace fonts that slash or dot the zero. Most seem not to.
    – phoog
    Dec 10, 2016 at 14:00
  • @Jan unfortunately imprecise use of "letter" and "digit" to mean "character" is not particularly unusual. (Courier actually doesn't slash the zero, nor does Courier New; I don't know why you would think they do.)
    – phoog
    Dec 10, 2016 at 16:58
  • @phoog You’re correct … this is why I should never trust my brain. Anyhoo, the (zero) has been there from the time of writing at the end of the line; I wouldn’t know how to add more clarity without losing brevity …
    – Jan
    Dec 10, 2016 at 17:11

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