WASHINGTON – United States Mint Director Ed Moy unveiled the design for the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar at the National Federation of the Blind’s annual convention in Dallas, Texas, during the March for Independence on July 2, 2008.

“The United States Mint is proud to present the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar coin design. It will be the first coin ever minted in the history of our country to contain readable Braille characters,” said Director Moy. “I am looking forward to presenting the design for this unprecedented coin, and I am pleased that the United States Mint is playing a role in the cause of bringing literacy to all blind and visually impaired Americans.”

A prototype was displayed at the convention for the attendees to examine and experience the Braille on the coin prior to being available for purchase.

The coin will go on sale in the spring of 2009, the bicentennial anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth.

In addition to commemorating the life and work of Louis Braille-the inventor of the Braille reading and writing system-surcharges from the sale of the coin are authorized to be paid to the National Federation of the Blind to help fund Braille literacy initiatives. Braille did not become the official method of reading and writing for the blind in the United States until the 20th century.

Previously, the Alabama commemorative quarter-dollar, one of the coins in the United States Mint’s popular 50 State Quarters® Program, used Braille in the image honoring Helen Keller. The 1995 and 1996 Paralympic Silver Dollars, minted to commemorate the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, also featured Braille. The Braille on those coins was too small to be read by the visually impaired.

Besides the readable Braille on the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, the coin has distinguishing features apparent to the visually impaired community, such as size, weight and reeded edges, as do all coins issued by the United States Mint.

By David Ganz for Numismaster

Weighing in on the new reverse design for the Sacagawea dollar mandated by Congress, the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee viewed more than a dozen designs June 18 before selecting a female Indian planting maize (corn) in a field. The design is intended for use on the 2009 dollar coin, which is the first that will host a Native American theme.

Each year thereafter a different Native American design will appear.

The design on the obverse is not necessarily the old Sacagawea design. It is to be chosen by the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

There are two requirements: it must ” contain the so-called “Sacagawea design” and ” the inscription “Liberty.”

Despite recent difficulties with edge-lettering, the law requires that the inscription of the year of minting and issuance of the coin and the inscriptions “E Pluribus Unum” and “In God We Trust” are required to be edge-incused into the coin. The CCAC formally recommended the date movement, too.

There is a specific requirement that the edge-incusing of the inscriptions be done in a manner that preserves the distinctive edge of the coin so that the denomination of the coin is readily discernible, including by individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

There is an additional consultation requirement: designs selected for the reverse shall be chosen by the Treasury Secretary after consultation with the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Congressional Native American Caucus of the House of Representatives, the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Congress of American Indians. They must further be reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

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For the first time, United States Mint Director Ed Moy will display in Dallas, Texas, the design for the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, the first United States coin to feature readable Braille. The unveiling ceremony at AT&T Plaza at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Wednesday morning, July 2, 2008, will open the National Federation of the Blind’s 2008 National Convention. A United States Mint exhibit at the convention from 12 p.m. -2 p.m. CT the same day will allow visitors to examine a coin prototype and read the word “Braille” in Braille code on the prototype’s reverse (tails side).

The commemorative silver dollar, authorized by Congress and issued by the United States Mint, honors the bicentennial of the birth of Louis Braille, the creator of the Braille reading and writing system for the blind and people with vision loss. Surcharges from the sale of this collectible coin are authorized to go to the National Federation of the Blind to fund Braille literacy initiatives.

A Federation “March for Independence” will stop briefly at AT&T Plaza at 8:00 a.m. for the unveiling ceremony and then continue to the convention at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, where the coin prototype will be exhibited in the afternoon.

The 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar will be available for purchase from the United States Mint in the spring of 2009. (more…)