Louis Braille Bicentennial--Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin Act
PL 109-247 (H.R.2872), enacted 07/27/2006

120 STAT. 582
PUBLIC LAW 109–247—JULY 27, 2006
Public Law 109–247
109th Congress
An Act
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of Louis
Braille.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Louis Braille Bicentennial—
Braille Literacy Commemorative Coin Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Louis Braille, who invented the Braille method for
reading and writing by the blind that has allowed millions
of blind people to be literate participants in their societies,
was born in Coupvray, a small village near Paris, on January
4, 1809.
(2) Braille lost his sight at the age of three after injuring
himself with an awl in the shop of his father Rene, a maker
of harnesses and other objects of leather.
(3) A youth who was both intelligent and creative and
was blessed with dedicated parents, a thoughtful local priest
and an energetic local schoolteacher, Braille adapted to the
situation and attended local school with other youths of his
age, an unheard-of practice for a blind child of the period.
(4) At the age of 10, when his schooling otherwise would
have stopped, Braille—with the aid of the priest and school-
teacher—was given a scholarship by a local nobleman and
went to Paris to attend the Royal Institute for Blind Children
where he became the youngest pupil.
(5) At the school, most instruction was oral but Braille
found there were books for the blind—large, expensive-to-
produce books in which the text was of large letters embossed
upon the page.
(6) Soon Braille had read all 14 books in the school, but
thirsted for more.
(7) A captain in Napoleon’s army, Charles Barbier de la
Serre, had invented ‘‘night writing’’, a method for commu-
nicating on the battlefield amidst the thick smoke of combat
or at night without lighting a match—which would aid enemy
gunners—that used dots and dashes that were felt and inter-
preted with the fingers, and later adapted the method for
use by the blind, calling it Sonography because it represented
words by sounds, rather than spelling.
31 USC 5112
note.
Louis Braille
Bicentennial—
Braille Literacy
Commemorative
Coin Act.
July 27, 2006
[H.R. 2872]
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120 STAT. 583
PUBLIC LAW 109–247—JULY 27, 2006
(8) Braille adopted the Sonography method instantly but
soon recognized that the basis in sound and the large number
of dots—as many as 12—used to represent words was too
cumbersome.
(9) By the age of 15, and using a blunt awl, the same
sort of tool that had blinded him, Braille had developed what
is essentially modern Braille, a code that uses no more than
6 dots in a ‘‘cell’’ of 2 columns of 3 dots each to represent
each letter and contains a system of punctuation and of
‘‘contractions’’ to speed writing and reading.
(10) In contrast to the bulky books consisting of large
embossed letters, Braille books can contain as many as 1000
characters or contractions on a standard 11-by-12-inch page
of heavy paper, and to this day Braille can be punched with
an awl-like ‘‘stylus’’ into paper held in a metal ‘‘slate’’ that
is very similar to the ones that Louis Braille adapted from
Barbier’s original ‘‘night writing’’ devices.
(11) Also a talented organist who supported himself by
giving concerts, Braille went on to develop the Braille represen-
tation of music and in 1829 published the first-ever Braille
book, a manual about how to read and write music.
(12) 8 years later, in 1837, Braille followed that publication
with another book detailing a system of representation of
mathematics.
(13) Braille’s talents were quickly recognized, and at 17
he was made the first blind apprentice teacher at the school,
where he taught algebra, grammar, music, and geography.
(14) He and two blind classmates, his friends who probably
were the first people to learn to read and write Braille, later
became the first three blind full professors at the school.
(15) However, despite the fact that many blind people
enthusiastically adopted the system of writing and reading,
there was great skepticism among sighted people about the
real usefulness of Braille’s code, and even at the Royal Institute,
it was not taught until after his death on January 6, 1852.
(16) Braille did not start to spread widely until 1868 when
a group of British men—later to become known as the Royal
National Institute for the Blind—began publicizing and
teaching the system.
(17) Braille did not become the official and sole method
of reading and writing for blind United States citizens until
the 20th Century.
(18) Helen Keller, a Braille reader of another generation,
said: ‘‘Braille has been a most precious aid to me in many
ways. It made my going to college possible—it was the only
method by which I could take notes on lectures. All my exam-
ination papers were copied for me in this system. I use Braille
as a spider uses its web—to catch thoughts that flit across
my mind for speeches, messages and manuscripts.’’.
(19) While rapid technological advances in the 20th Century
have greatly aided the blind in many ways by speeding access
to information, each advance has seen a commensurate drop
in the teaching of Braille, to the point that only about 10
percent of blind students today are taught the system.
(20) However, for the blind not to know Braille is in itself
a handicap, because literacy is the ability to read and the
ability to write and the ability to do the two interactively.
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120 STAT. 584
PUBLIC LAW 109–247—JULY 27, 2006
(21) The National Federation of the Blind, the Nation’s
oldest membership organization consisting of blind members,
has been a champion of the Braille code, of Braille literacy
for all blind people and of the memory of Louis Braille, and
continues its Braille literacy efforts today through its divisions
emphasizing Braille literacy, emphasizing education of blind
children and emphasizing employment of the blind.
(22) Braille literacy aids the blind in taking responsible
and self-sufficient roles in society, such as employment: while
70 percent of the blind are unemployed, 85 percent of the
employed blind are Braille-literate.
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter
in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue
not more than 400,000 $1 coins bearing the designs specified in
section 4(a), each of which shall—
(1) weigh 26.73 grams;
(2) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
(3) contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.
(b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this Act shall
be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United
States Code.
(c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 5134 of title
31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall
be considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.
(a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins minted under
this Act shall be emblematic of the life and legacy of Louis
Braille.
(2) OBVERSE.—The design on the obverse shall bear a rep-
resentation of the image of Louis Braille.
(3) REVERSE.—The design on the reverse shall emphasize
Braille literacy and shall specifically include the word for
Braille in Braille code (the Braille capital sign and the letters
Brl) represented in a way that substantially complies with
section 3 of Specification 800 of the National Library Service
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of
Congress specifications for Braille, and is tactilely indiscernible
from printed or written Braille.
(4) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin minted
under this Act there shall be—
(A) a designation of the value of the coin;
(B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2009’’; and
(C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In God We
Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus
Unum’’.
(b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted under this
Act shall be—
(1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the
Commission of Fine Arts and the National Federation of the
Blind; and
(2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
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120 STAT. 585
PUBLIC LAW 109–247—JULY 27, 2006
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.
(a) QUALITY
OF COINS.—Coins minted under this Act shall
be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.
(b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United States Mint
may be used to strike any particular quality of the coins minted
under this Act.
(c) PERIOD
FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may issue coins
minted under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning
on January 1, 2009.
SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.
(a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act shall be
sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of—
(1) the face value of the coins;
(2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect
to such coins; and
(3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including
labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses,
marketing, and shipping).
(b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the
coins issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
(c) PREPAID ORDERS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders
for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of
such coins.
(2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders
under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.
SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.
(a) SURCHARGE REQUIRED.—All sales of coins under this Act
shall include a surcharge of $10 per coin.
(b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United
States Code, all surcharges which are received by the Secretary
from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly
paid by the Secretary to the National Federation of the Blind
to further its programs to promote Braille literacy.
(c) AUDITS.—The National Federation of the Blind shall be
subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31,
United States Code, with regard to the amounts received by the
National Federation under subsection (b).
(d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), no surcharge
may be included with respect to the issuance under this Act of
any coin during a calendar year if, as of the time of such issuance,
the issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemora-
tive coin programs issued during such year to exceed the annual
2 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under section
5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in effect on the
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120 STAT. 586
PUBLIC LAW 109–247—JULY 27, 2006
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2872 (S. 2321):
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 152 (2006):
Feb. 28, considered and passed House.
July 12, considered and passed Senate.
date of the enactment of this Act). The Secretary of the Treasury
may issue guidance to carry out this subsection.
Approved July 27, 2006.
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