Braille coin boosts literacy for blind

October 8, 5:06 PMRichmond Coin Collecting ExaminerMartin Wilson

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(AP photo)

The Richmond Coin Club is helping promote Braille education for the blind.(More at http://richmondcoinclub.com/)

At its monthly meeting on October 6, Mark Roane, Treasurer of the National Federation for the Blind in Virginia, told club members that only 10 percent of all blind children learn to read and write using Braille.  (See http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Default.asp for more.)

“A 10 percent rate of education for any other group would be unacceptable,” he said.

“This is actually a decline,” said Melody Lindsey, executive director of the Virginia Rehab Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired.  “As recently as the 1950’s, about 50 percent of blind students were learning Braille.  So the problem has gotten worse, not better.”

One reason is that many think Braille is no longer needed due to technology.  “But there’s a difference between passive and active reading,” said Lindsey. “Technology is dependent on other factors like batteries and electricity. Braille provides a much richer reading experience.” (See more at http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Braille_Initiative.asp).

An additional obstacle, she said, is the decline in the number of teachers trained to teach the blind.

To help battle Braille illiteracy and commemorate the 200th birth of Louis Braille, the Frenchman who developed the system named for him, the US Mint has issued 400,000 silver coins. Surcharges from sales will be donated to the NFB’s literacy initiatives. 

“It is the first coin in our history to contain readable Braille characters,” said Mint director Ed Moy.

At the Richmond Coin Club meeting, Roane and Lindsey brought 40 of the coins, both proof and circulated, for purchase.  Members bought most at the meeting, and the club purchased the remainder for future auctions. The coins are available for purchase directly from the US Mint at
https://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&identifier=4000