2009 Louis Braille Silver Dollars were launched in a ceremony Thursday at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. The commemorative proof and uncirculated silver dollars celebrate the 200th birthday and the life and work of Louis Braille, inventor of the Braille system for reading and writing by the blind and visually impaired.

The United States Mint first released the Braille designs and a prototype in July 2008 during the NFB annual convention in Dallas, Texas. The unveiling showcased the unique silver dollar design, which US Mint Director Ed Moy told the audience about during Thursday’s ceremony.

"For the first time in history, the United States has a coin with readable Braille. The 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar honors the developer of Braille, a tactile code that has been instrumental in the literacy and independence of the world’s blind people."

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2009 Lincoln penny design images were revealed by U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy Monday morning during a news conference at the Lincoln Memorial. The four reverse designs celebrate a different aspect of Abraham Lincoln’s life: his birth and childhood in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois and his Presidency in Washington, D.C.

"This is a momentous occasion in the history of our Nation’s coinage because these designs represent the first change in the Lincoln cent in half a century," said Director Moy. 

"These coins are a tribute to one of our greatest Presidents whose legacy has had a lasting impact on our country.  He believed all men were created equal, and his life was a model for accomplishing the American dream through honesty, integrity, loyalty, and a lifetime of education."

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The United States Mint announced in a media advisory Friday that it will reveal the 2009 Lincoln penny designs during a news conference at the Lincoln Memorial on Monday, September 22.

(Editor’s update on 9/22/08: view penny design images here.)

The news event will be hosted by Mint Director Ed Moy and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Four pennies with different reverse designs will be released in 2009 to celebrate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln cent.

While the obverse or heads side of the penny will remain unchanged, the 2009 pennies will bear new reverse images for the first time in 50 years. In 1959, the currently used Memorial reverse replaced the well known Wheat Ears design.

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Americans are very familiar with the continual failure of dollar coins in every day use. In recent years, the Susan B. Anthony and the Sacagawea Golden Dollar have lost their acceptance battle.

Today, the new Presidential $1 coins honoring U.S. presidents is failing. Over one billion of the coins have been minted since the series start in 2007. Yet, few are ever seen in daily use. The paper bill is the currency of choice.

The U.S. Mint hopes a new marketing campaign will change people’s minds. They have selected four cities — Austin, TX; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Portland, Oregon; and Charlotte, North Carolina — as their testing bed.

The latest campaign takes a "green" approach, marketing how paper dollars waste money and harm the environment. To help America, the four city residents will be told to use "100 percent recyclable" coins that last decades instead of 21 months, like a $1 note’s typical lifespan.

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(Baltimore, Maryland) — The brief comments below are in conjunction with the unveiling of a new U.S. gold coin, the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle, by United States Mint Director, Ed Moy, at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money® in the Baltimore Convention Center on July 30, 2008.

"This is one of the most creative products to come from the United States Mint.  I believe it will be one of the Mint’s most sought after coins," stated Gary Adkins of Edina, Minnesota, President of the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.com), a nonprofit organization composed of many of the nation’s top rare coin experts. 

"Virtually every collector would like to own one of the Ultra High Relief gold pieces issued in 1907 because it’s one of the world’s most beautiful coins; however, because of scarcity and strong demand, prices can range from $10,000 and up.  The 2009-dated Ultra High Relief Double Eagle gold coins will give collectors a chance to obtain this artistic rendition at a price closer to its actual gold bullion value," Adkins said.

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The United States Mint has announced that Director Moy will host a public forum at the Baltimore 2008 ANA World’s Fair of Money® on Friday, August 1.

The meet and greet event offers coin collectors the opportunity to ask questions, and receive answers directly from the head of the U.S. Mint. Directory Moy has held public coin forums for appreciative collectors several times this year. This latest one is sure to be a highlight of the convention for many.

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United States Mint Director Ed Moy will testify before the House Financial Services Subcommittee tomorrow, March 11. A CoinNews article Friday discussed House bill H.R. 5512. It is that bill for which Mr. Moy will testify.

H.R. 5512, named the ‘Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008‘, seeks to change the composition of metals in coins in order to maintain or bring back their profitability - the penny and nickel, for example, cost more to produce than what they are worth. The penny costs approximately 1.7 cents to make and the nickel about 10 cents.

In regards to the hearing, U.S. Representative Luis V. Gutierres commented:

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