Harold Austerman
The use of ellipses
When the treat of intimidation or outright rejection of lawful protest is too great, then a second and equally valid method of signing under protest is permitted, namely the use of three full stops placed first, followed by the signature so that the three dots are not obscured by the signature.
This is called an ellipsis eg "..." and indicates that legally there was a form of words you wanted to state but were unable due to some event, in this case because of threat and coercion.
Thus, at the earliest opportunity the ellipsis can be revealed and it can be stated that you intended to write V.C. but were prevented therefore nullifying any agreement.
It would be of interest to the author if there have been any more recent cases (particularly in Australia) where V.C. has been used to sign a document. There appears to have been a case in Indonesia where Dutch interests signed V.C., however, the author does not have full access to the journal in question:
The Measures Taken by the Indonesian Government against ...by I Login - 1958 - Related articles Authority" or "o.p." (under protest) or "v.c." (vi coactus). And that, of course , was preciously what it was: compelled by force. ... Source: journals.cambridge.org/article_S0165070X00029879
Printed copy · Anthology Volume 3, page 1109
