[nfbmi-talk] An article about the Braille coin

[Mary Ann Rojek]

University of Montana President George Dennison has been presented with a limited-edition
Braille silver dollar that will be used for the coin flip before the Saturday quarterfinal
football game between UM and Stephen F. Austin at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
The coin was presented to Dennison by the Montana Association of the Blind, an affiliate
of the National Federation of the Blind.
Congress minted 400,000 Louis Braille bicentennial silver dollars to mark the 200th
anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille (1809-1852), who invented a reading and
writing code for the blind. Sale of the coins benefits a campaign to promote literacy
among blind Americans.
"The use this coin during a playoff football game will raise awareness of an important
cause," Dennison said. "With only about 10 percent of people with blindness in the
United States literate in Braille, the majority of blind Americans must overcome
severe limits to their educational options. Those who purchase these Braille commemorative
coins will help to fund a campaign that attempts to double that percentage by 2015."
A portion of the proceeds from sales of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver
Dollar will be used to support the NFB's "Braille Readers are Leaders" campaign,
a national initiative created to increase the number of blind children learning Braille,
improve certification standards for teachers of Braille and conduct innovative programs
to support Braille literacy.
Those interested in ordering a 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar or the
new Braille Education Set, which features the coin in a collectible folder designed
to highlight the life and legacy of Louis Braille, should visit
www.braille.org
 or www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).
The commemorative silver dollar and Braille Education Set will only be available
until Friday, Dec. 11.
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