Palau: $5 2009. Louis Braille

200th Birthday of Louis Braille
Louis Braille, born on January 4, 1809 lost his eyesight at the age of 3 when he accidently stabbed himself in the eye in his father’s workshop. It was so badly injured that it infected his second eye which could also not be saved and within 2 years he lost his eyesight completely.  At  age 10 he was sent to the world’s first blind school in Paris.
In 1821 a captain named Barbier presented his invention called “Night Writing” at the school. Consisting of raised dots, it was used by servicemen in order to transmit secret messages without speaking. But it was very complicated and not flexible. Braille recognized the potential of this method and for six years he was preoccupied developing his system for the blind, based on raised dots. At the age of 16 he found the final solution. The characters consist of 6 raised dots and are divided into two columns.
In 1850 his Braille was officially introduced for lessons in French blind schools. This $5 silver coin  (.925 silver, 25 grams) from Palau shows a beautiful portrait of Louis Braille with the date embossed in Braille. Mintage limited to 2,500 coins.