The base of ten was reputation score, not bling/ding bestowal, I believe.

I will concur with the fact that the gray bling/ding lozenges do not change to red/green in the future because otherwise, the system would be constantly recalculating the value as members aquire more reputation or posts. It is a snapshot based on reputation-altering power at a given time.

A gray lozenge received means that it was neutral, that is, the poster lacked the 250 posts and 20 points of reputation to affect your own reputation.

In another bulletin board I'm aware of, the maximum was 12 lozenges.