Braille Coins

A Braille Silver Dollar will be issued in three years.

The legislation, which passed the Senate on Thursday after receiving approval in the House in February, authorizes the Mint to issue up to 400,000 silver-dollar commemorative coins in 2009. Braille was born in France in 1809.

The coins will feature Louis Braille's image and the first Braille symbol ever minted by the U.S. Treasury, raised dots that will spell out "Brl," the contraction for Braille.

Under the legislation, a $10 surcharge will be added to each coin, with money from the coin sales going to support programs to help the blind.

The National Federation of the Blind said that it will match the money raised through the coin sales with its own fundraising efforts to support Braille literacy programs.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who sponsored the Senate bill along with Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said the coin sales would help spread the benefits of teaching the Braille system.

"We need to ensure that more people _ blind and sighted _ are educated and well aware of Braille's amazing system and the vast benefits associated with it," Dodd said in a statement.