Will the 2009 Louis Braille Dollar generate interest in the Alabama State Quarter?
Walmann
Posts: 2,806 ✭
Just wondering if the issue of a commerative such as this will spark interest in the only US coin to have braille on it.
I don't believe many people were/are aware of the the Alabama Quarter with Keller featured on it had braille.
Will this quarter containing braille become common knownledge or will it just be a matter of yet another commerative that will have little if any interest in it, especially with the $10 surcharge added for programs for the visually impaired?
Would the circulating Alabama quarters been more difficult to find in MS condition if people knew about the braille and wanted to "check it out"?
I don't believe many people were/are aware of the the Alabama Quarter with Keller featured on it had braille.
Will this quarter containing braille become common knownledge or will it just be a matter of yet another commerative that will have little if any interest in it, especially with the $10 surcharge added for programs for the visually impaired?
Would the circulating Alabama quarters been more difficult to find in MS condition if people knew about the braille and wanted to "check it out"?
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Comments
Snarky answer: Most people are ignorant of what's on the state quarters or even why stuff is on them. You have people who horrified by the presence of a gun on the Massachusetts quarter, who have never heard of the two gents paddling away from the Gateway Arch on the Missouri quarter, and who couldn't identify the state outline coins even if you didn't cover up the state name. The production of a Visual Imparity Fund Raiser coin, likely to be ugly even to the blind, will have no effect on the value, availability, aesthetics, size, weight, or smell of the Alabama quarter.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Could be a nice coin. The reverse is a tad disappointing.
<< <i>Does slabbing a braille coin limit its purpose? >>
That raises a very touchy issue.
<< <i>
<< <i>Does slabbing a braille coin limit its purpose? >>
That raises a very touchy issue. >>
Didn't see that one coming.
<< <i>
<< <i>Does slabbing a braille coin limit its purpose? >>
That raises a very touchy issue. >>
<< <i>This will continue the line of loser commerative dollars by the mint..... >>
I think the Bald Eagle was pretty cool.
That and the SF Mint, another attempt at class. Not too shabby.
<< <i>
<< <i>This will continue the line of loser commerative dollars by the mint..... >>
I think the Bald Eagle was pretty cool.
That and the SF Mint, another attempt at class. Not too shabby. >>
I have some of the commerative dollars, such as the Bald Eagle & Franklin ones but since these came back into existance we have more losers then winners.....
I have high hopes for the NASA ones being talked about.....
<< <i>A story on this coin is now on the CNN.com homepage. >>
Typical, MSM can't report a simple story correctly, the Alabama Quarter had braille on it, yet they are reporting this commerative to be the first US coin to do so, wrong.
Now if only CNN was Coin News Network ...
<< <i>
<< <i>A story on this coin is now on the CNN.com homepage. >>
Typical, MSM can't report a simple story correctly, the Alabama Quarter had braille on it, yet they are reporting this commerative to be the first US coin to do so, wrong. >>
Many people may not consider that part of the article wrong. It says this coin is the "the first U.S. coin with readable Braille characters."
Here's the AL SLQ. Do you think those are readable by a Braille reader?
Some people don't think so. Check out this This Is Broken thread:
1) It's cool that Braille is included on the Alabama state quarter depicting Helen Keller. However, I'm assuming a blind person would never be able to read it at that scale.
2) I'm sure their intention was artistic, though, and not practical.
3) I agree with Mary Pat that the design is flawed: why put braille on the quarter if it's too small for any blind user to experience it? (Too small for any sighted user, in fact, unless they have a magnifying glass on hand..)
4) I doubt the Braille is meant to be practical in any way. It's symbolic, that's all. You don't expect to be able to read that book on her lap, do you?
5) geez, you guys. it's a quarter.
I bet some Braille readers were put off by the AL SLQ due to the small size of the letters.
<< I just happened upon the 2003 Alabama state quarter and wondered what the Braille letters above Helen Keller's name said. I would assume that it is to be Helen Keller's name in Braille, but not knowing Braille myself had to look really hard at the "specks" and use a chart to translate the letters into English. The best I can tell, the letters are
chele
ckell*
*is like a backwards "p"?
Does anyone know anything of this? What am I missing? >>
<< I was confused by this too. I expected it to be her name in braille, but something didn't seem quite right. Even simple pattern matching showed something was wrong (trivial with all those 'e's and 'l's) [....] >>
Perhaps the AL SLQ's Braille isn't readable in more ways than one?
Perhaps the AL SLQ just has some dots that are supposed be representative of Braille but really aren't?
<< <i>Previously, the Alabama commemorative quarter-dollar, one of the coins in the United States Mint's popular 50 State Quarters® Program, used Braille in the image honoring Helen Keller, but the Braille was too small to be readable by the blind. Also, the 1995 and 1996 Paralympics Silver Dollar featured Braille, but the code was too small to be readable. >>
I tried searching the websites of such organizations as the American Federation for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind. The issue of the state quarter with Helen Keller seems to be a non issue, no mention of it in anyway. Their chat boards and articles in regards to US coinage are centered on the aspect of size and shape of the coinage being easy for the blind to identify.
The issue of the Susan B, Sac and Presidentals seem to be the most concern. The size is too similar to that of the quarter. Makes me feel somewhat foolish bringing up the braille aspect of these coins, when it seems to be of little interest to the blind.