First Truly Accessible Coin With Raised Braille Dots
A brand new commemorative coin was unvailed at the NFB National Convention. This coin is totally unique in that it is the very first bit of U.S currency with raised Braille dots. The coin is described below.
The heads side of the silver dollar depicts Louis Braille with the word "Liberty" above it.
On the back of the coin, the Braille code for the word Braille — or "Brl" — is inscribed, above a depiction of a school-age boy reading a Braille book with
a cane resting on his arm. Behind him is a bookshelf bearing the word "Independence."
The commemorative 1-ounce coin will be available in spring 2009, the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. The U.S. Mint will produce 400,000 of the
coins. Braille was born in France in 1809.
A $10 surcharge will be added to each coin, with money from the coin sales going to support programs to help the blind.
This is definitely a step in the right direction in providing equal access to our currency by the blind. Of course, our coin system has been pretty accessible through the different tactile representations, and sizes of each coin, but putting actual Braille on them adds that special touch that so many blind individuals are familiar with. Braille is their language. By adding Braille on the currency will mean great employment potential, not to mention greater independence for the blind who require the reading of Braille in their lives. By revamping the U.S currency to meet the needs of the Blind means that our nation is taking a step in the right direction in aiding in the independence of those who are blind.
For so long now, the blind have had to rely upon sighted individuals to tell them what their currency, and hope that what they were told was the honest truth. However, with more accessible currency, the blind themselves can tell the difference in currency, and not have to consult another sighted individual just to tell them what a particular bit of currency is.
By making our money more accessible to the blind means that those who are blind can do a whole lot more in their day to day lives, thus live that much more independently.
We already put Braille dots on the insides of elevators without thinking about it, so why not our money too? It is high time that our government and those in power take the right steps to improve our currency to adaquately accomodate the blind. We have the ADA, Americans With Disabilities Act which helps with things such as employment, housing and transportation, but we have lacked in handling our currency in the same mannor. Yo would have thought that with the ADA in place, that our currency would automatically follow those guidelines, but it hasen’t, and it needs to catch up.