DALLAS (AP) -- The first U.S. coin with readable Braille characters has been unveiled.

Government officials and an advocate for the blind displayed Wednesday a prototype of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar. The unveiling was part of the National Federation of the Blind annual convention in Dallas.

The Braille code for the word Braille -- or Brl -- is inscribed on the back of the coin, above a depiction of a school-age boy with a walking stick reading a Braille book.

The front of the coin depicts Louis Braille with the word "Liberty" above it. The coin will be available in spring 2009, the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille's birth.

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