objective c - Why has NSNumber such strange retainCounts?

Question

NSNumber* n = [[NSNumber alloc] initWithInt:100];
NSNumber* n1 = n;

In the code above, why is the value of n's retainCount set to 2? In the second line of the code, I didn't use retain to increase the number of retainCount.

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I found a strange situation. Actually the retainCount depends on the initial number:

NSNumber *n = [[NSNumber alloc] initWithInt:100]; 
// n has a retainCount of 1

NSNumber *n2 = [[NSNumber alloc] initWithInt:11]; 
// n has a retainCount of 2

Answer 1

Stop. Just stop. Never look at the retainCount of an object. Ever. It should never have been API and available. You're asking for pain.

There's too much going on for retainCount to be meaningful.