WASHINGTON - Federal appeals court judges indicated they were troubled that blind people are unable to distinguish between a $50 bill and a $1 bill, but said yesterday they were reluctant to force a redesign of U.S. currency.

“Where does this stop?” asked Judge A. Raymond Randolph. Are postage stamps illegal? Government Web sites? When mail carriers leave handwritten notes on front doors, are they discriminating against blind people?

“The National Gallery is having a Hopper exhibit,” Randolph said. “Those paintings, do they violate the Rehabilitation Act?” The case erupted last year when a judge said the government discriminated against the blind by keeping bills the same color, shape and texture. He gave the Treasury Department just days to begin solving the problem, but changes have been put on hold while appeals play out.

Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit did not rule immediately, citing concern about the consequences.

Passed in 1973, the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination against the disabled in government programs. But the law is vague about what is covered. Jeffrey A. Lovitky, attorney for the American Council of the Blind, which brought the lawsuit, said postage stamps and government Web sites might indeed be covered by the law.

But currency is not specifically identified in the law and the judges said it’s unclear if they should step in. “Congress has had many opportunities to do exactly what you’re asking us to do and they said ‘No,’ ” Judge Thomas B. Griffith said.

The issue is divisive even among advocacy groups. Scott C. LaBarre, an attorney for the National Federation of the Blind, sided in court with the government. LaBarre, who is blind, said blind people have more important issues.

“No regulation can make a blind person see,” he said. “No law can make me see the bill, see the postage stamp or see the federal building.”

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