[Nfbf-l] FW: [Brl-coordinators] Other Louis Braille Commemoratives

[Sherrill O'Brien]

Hi everyone,

I thought this was interesting, even if I don't purchase any of these coins.

Sherrill

-----Original Message-----
From: brl-coordinators-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:brl-coordinators-bounces at nfbnet.org]On Behalf Of Dick Davis
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 11:18 AM
To: 'Braille Readers are Leaders contest support list'
Subject: [Brl-coordinators] Other Louis Braille Commemoratives


Hi,
Since I collect coins, I thought I'd tell you about the other Louis Braille
commemorative coins issued in 2009.  Belgium and Italy issued 2 Euro (about
$3 US) coins.  You can get them on Ebay for $4.50 to $4.99.  The Italian one
shows slender fingers reading a Braille book with really teeny dots.  Oddly
enough, the only fingers in contact with the page are the ring and little
finger.  The Belgian one has a portrait of Louis along with the letters l
and b (no caps).  India issued a 2 Rupee coin (about 4 cents US.) that has a
portrait and "L. Braille" in capitalized Grade 2 Braille.  You can get one
on Ebay for $2.99 and the shipping is free.  Although these coins are made
of a base metal (the Euros are bimetallic) they're still attractive, and I
like the idea of them being in regular circulation like the Abraham Lincoln
commemorative cents that the U.S. issued in 2009.  The island of Palau,
which seems to do commemoratives as a way to raise money, did one with a
pretty grim picture of Louis (bad looking eyes) and his name spelled out in
print letters constructed using dots, which implies that Braille is just
print written with dots.  It's $49, which is pretty steep for an ugly and
deceptive coin (at least it's silver) so I'm waiting for the cost to come
down before I buy one.  Oddly enough, France didn't see fit to create one.
I thought there was one from Slovakia, but there wasn't; it was just a
labeling error by the seller.  Those are all I could find; if I see others,
I'll let you all know.
Dick Davis