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The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 44, October 30, 2016, Article 23

NATIONAL COLLECTION ACQUIRES IBILL READER

Dr. Ellen Feingold is the curator of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian. Her October 28, 2016 O Say Can You See? blog article highlights a recent collection acquisition, an iBill reader for the blind; the article also features a second interesting item related to the blind. -Editor

As the curator of the National Numismatic Collection (NNC), I collect objects that reflect innovation in money today in order to preserve them for the historians and museum visitors of tomorrow. But what is innovative? To many, innovation means the new digital technologies emerging from private enterprise, such as cryptocurrencies, mobile money, and Apple Pay, which continue to make cash seem more and more obsolete. Over the last year, however, I have collected a variety of coins and banknotes—and objects that enable their use—that reflect more subtle technological and social innovations. Three of these objects are now on display in the New Acquisitions case in The Value of Money.

The iBill Currency Reader
iBill currency reader The first innovative object is the iBill Currency Reader—a new technology that helps to make U.S. banknotes more accessible. American banknotes are the same size, weight, and texture regardless of denomination. This uniformity makes it difficult for people who are blind or have low vision to determine the value of their banknotes. In 2015 the U.S. Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) established the U.S. Currency Reader Program as part of the Meaningful Access Program. The BEP distributes iBills for free to people who are blind or have low vision.

The iBill is a small, handheld device that reads all U.S. banknotes. The reader communicates the value of the banknote through a voice, pattern of tones, or pattern of vibrations. The vibrations setting makes the iBill useful to people who are both deaf and blind.

The iBill joins other objects in the NNC that reflect the need to make money accessible to all, including a Braille check signed by Helen Keller that was donated to the Smithsonian in 1978.

Braille check signed by Helen Keller

Helen Keller Braille check
Check for one cent signed by Helen Keller, United States, 1933.
Donated by The Chase Manhattan Bank.

I'm pleased to see alternative currencies being added to the collection as well. Two are pictured below. Also acquired was a National Baseball Hall of Fame coin. -Editor

Brixton 5 Pound note
5 Brixton Pound note, United Kingdom, 2014.

Brixton 10 Pound note
10 Brixton Pound note, United Kingdom, about 2011.

Smithsonian Galley of Numismatics To read the complete article, see:
What is innovation in money today? (http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/innovation-money-today)

For more information on The value of Money exhibit, see:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/value-money




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Wayne Homren, Editor

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