Have you ever wondered how the blind population can tell what denomination of either paper money or coin they are using?

A prototype of the first U.S. coin with readable Braille characters was unveiled July 2 at the National Federation of the Blind’s annual convention in Dallas during the March for Independence.

The 2009 commemorative honoring Louis Braille who invented the Braille alphabet, will not be sold to collectors until next year. It celebrates the 200th anniversary of Braille’s birth. It is noted that prior U.S. coins that depicted Braille had characters not large enough to be read by the blind.

Resource: Numismatic News July 15, 2008