If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that for the last few years, I was trying to figure out how to have coins described in great detail for blind people. I have to say, all my ventures have failed. The original idea was that blind people would understand what a coin looks like, particularly features which are impossible to feel by touch. But there were two problems. The first was that I don’t think too many people were interested. The second, I could not find enough people to describe a good number of coins. But I have missed the obvious. There is already such a thing. Though it wasn’t used to the fullest several years ago, but today it seems that it can be the solution. It is the ability to describe coins on Numista. This feature is also helpful for all collectors. At this point, I am ready to give up my original intention to have coins described for blind people, because it is no longer relevant. I will, however, maintain the related posts on the blog, for the sake of historical documentation.
IYDP coins of Portugal
Let’s continue the International Year of Disabled Persons coin series with Portugal. Portugal released two coins to commemorate the International Year of Disabled Persons, a 25 and a 100 Escudo. Though the official date of IYDP was 1981, these coins were released to circulation in 1984, for the opening of the XV. international rehabilitation congress. The criteria of the IYDP coin issuance was to depict people who despite of their disability made a significant achievement in life, or contributed to the lives of people with disabilities. Portugal chose an example of both groups. António Feliciano de Castilho who was a blind poet, and Jacob Rodrigues Pereira who was instrumental in developing sign language.
Lawsuit to make the new Brazilian 200 Reais accessible
The Brazilian National Association of the Blind, Organização Nacional de Cegos do Brasil, with other organizations is suing for the removal of the new 200 Reais bank note, because it is not sufficiently accessible for the visually impaired. In short, the new 200 Reais bank note is exactly the same size as the 20 Reais note, while all previous notes are different in size.
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The Bank of England describes their collection for visually impaired people
The Bank of England started an interesting initiative, describing their collection. As they claim on their site, it is suitable for visually impaired adults. There is no information about the initiative, but it speaks for itself.
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For the seventh birthday
Not surprisingly this year was rather unusual. Not just for the obvious reasons, but about a year ago I lost my job which previously allowed me to travel so much. Fortunately I found a similar position, which does not require any travel. I did not like the lack of travel until March, when I realized that it is probably the best thing that happened to me recently, particularly that I ended up working as an accessibility consultant in the health sector. But let’s start with the end, as I am the least proud of that part.
Will electronic payments solve the accessible currency problem?
I often hear the argument that electronic payments can ultimately replace currency in which case it won’t matter if bank notes are accessible for disabled people. There is certainly some truth to it, but it is much more complex. Let’s see if electronic payments will solve the need for accessible currency.
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IYDP coins of the Isle of Man
In 1981, the Isle of Man released four 1 Crown coins celebrating the international Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). With this, they issued almost ten percent of the entire series. Though the coins are identical in measurement, they represent a diverse history and are unique in many ways.
Before we look at the coins, it is important to put the Isle of Man into a greater perspective to understand the diversity of coins.
International Year of Disabled Persons coin series
The United Nations proclaimed 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). In connection with this event, countries around the world released a series of commemorative coins. Surprisingly, there is very little information out there about the series, information can only be gathered from numerous resources. I set out to uncover and collect some information about these coins.
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The Reserve Bank of India makes available a new Indian currency identification app
On January 1, 2020 the Reserve Bank of India issued a press release in which they announced the launch of their currency identification app. The app is called MANI, Mobile Aided Note Identifier. It is available on iOS and Android operating systems.
Below you can read my review of the app, and at the end of this page you can find a video to see it in action.
Should coin museums be accessible for the blind?
Throughout my travels, I have visited several coin museums and coin exhibits. Thanks to all the people who made this experience enjoyable, a new world of understanding numismatics opened up to me. As I visited more and more numismatic collections, I was always thinking if this experience could be replicated for other blind people to enjoy.
If you ask me if numismatic museums should be available for the blind, without any hesitation I would say: yes, of course. But the answer is not all that obvious. In this post, I will examine the reasons why blind people would visit a museum which maybe very different from sighted people, and will also discuss the advantage and difficulties of making numismatic collections available through touch. A spoiler alert: I will not answer my question with a yes or no, if coins exhibits should be accessible for the blind. Rather, I will give a few pointers only, because it is ultimately a decision a museum will have to make based on their collection and their abilities to make it available for blind people.
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