Obverse. Photo © Numista
  • 2 Rupees 2009, KM# 368, India, Republic, 200th Anniversary of Birth of Louis Braille
  • 2 Rupees 2009, KM# 368, India, Republic, 200th Anniversary of Birth of Louis Braille
Description

In post-Independence Indian numismatics, Louis Braille is the only non-Indian citizen to be commemorated so far. Mother Teresa, although born in Skopje, present-day Macedonia, attained Indian citizenship in 1951.

Louis Braille (1809–1852) was a French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for use by the blind or visually impaired. His system remains known worldwide simply as braille.

Blinded in both eyes as a result of an early childhood accident, Braille mastered his disability while still a boy. He excelled in his education and received a scholarship to France's Royal Institute for Blind Youth. While still a student there, he began developing a system of tactile code that could allow blind people to read and write quickly and efficiently. Inspired by the military cryptography of Charles Barbier, Braille constructed a new method built specifically for the needs of the blind. He presented his work to his peers for the first time in 1824.

Obverse

Depicts the State Emblem of India with Satyameva Jayate below separated by horizontal lines from the country name above and value below.

The State Emblem of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, preserved in the Sarnath Museum near Varanasi, India. A representation of Lion Capital of Ashoka was officially adopted on 26 January 1950, the day that India became a republic.

The actual Sarnath capital features four Asiatic lions standing back to back, symbolizing power, courage, confidence and pride, mounted on a circular base. At the bottom is a horse and a bull, and at its centre is a wheel (Dharma Chakra). The abacus is girded with a frieze of sculptures in high relief of The Lion of the North, The Horse of the West, The Bull of the South and The Elephant of the East, separated by intervening wheels, over a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration.

"Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit: सत्यमेव जयते satyam-eva jayate; lit. "Truth alone triumphs.") is a part of a mantra from the ancient Indian scripture Mundaka Upanishad. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto. It is inscribed in script at the base of the Lion Capital of Ashoka and forms an integral part of the national emblem. The emblem and the words "Satyameva Jayate" are inscribed on one side of all Indian currency.

भारत INDIA
सत्यमेव जयते 2
रूपये RUPEES

Reverse

Depicts a bust of Louis Braille dividing dates, braille script reads L.BRL, mintmark (if any) on the bottom.

लुई ब्रेल LOUIS BRAILLE
1809 2009

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Stainless Steel
Weight 5.8 g
Diameter 27 mm
Thickness 1.5 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mints
Calcutta Mint (no mintmark)
Hyderabad Mint (★)
Mumbai Mint (♦)

Related coins

200th Anniversary of Birth of Louis Braille

Bi-Metallic, 8.5 g, ⌀ 25.75 mm

200th Anniversary of Birth of Louis Braille

Bi-Metallic, 8.5 g, ⌀ 25.75 mm