Belgium

2009

Commemorative coin

200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille

Official Journal of the European Union

The inner part of the coin features a portrait of Louis Braille between his initials, L and B, in the alphabet that he designed. Above the portrait is the legend ‘LOUIS BRAILLE’, and underneath is the issuing country reference, ‘BE’, between the dates 1809 and 2009. To the left and right respectively are the mint mark and the signature mark of the Master of the Mint. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

The coin is dedicated to Louis Braille (1809 1852), a Frenchman who went blind at the age of five after an accident. At the age of eleven, he learned of the "night writing" developed by Charles Barbier (1767-1841), which was intended to give written orders to soldiers at the front who could read them without lighting a lantern, as they would otherwise have exposed themselves to enemy fire. In 1824, at the age of fifteen, he developed a code for the French alphabet to improve night writing. After a second revision, he published the first binary braille developed in modern times in 1837. The coin shows his likeness after a bust by an unknown artist.

Edge lettering

Designer