# Is it possible for a blind person to differentiate between US currency?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-blind-person-to-differentiate-between-us-currency/999600>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 30, 2024, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-blind-person-to-differentiate-between-us-currency/999600 "2024-03-30T08:30:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-blind-person-to-differentiate-between-us-currency/999600/1 "2024-03-30T08:30:34Z")

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Title is it, but not asking about coinage, just bills.

Thanks

ETA: Seems like there should Braille on there

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**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-blind-person-to-differentiate-between-us-currency/999600/2 "2024-03-30T08:50:03Z")

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[The government provides free currency readers to qualified blind people](https://www.loc.gov/nls/services-and-resources/us-currency-reader-program/#:~:text=The%20currency%20reader%2C%20called%20the,to%20have%20the%20denomination%20identified.). There is also an app for reading denominations of bills. Apparently, the paper used on US currency isn’t durable enough to support brail.

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**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-blind-person-to-differentiate-between-us-currency/999600/3 "2024-03-30T12:33:04Z")

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It’s worth noting that many other countries have designed their banknotes to be distinguishable by the visually impaired — by some embossed patterns, different sizes, different colors, high-contrast labelling, or some combination thereof. (The last two features can help people who are not completely blind but who have severe visual impairments.) [Here’s a nice run-down of what other countries do.](https://money.com/blind-people-tell-money-bills-apart/)

> [@Si\_Amigo](#):
>
> Apparently, the paper used on US currency isn’t durable enough to support brail.

That wouldn’t stop them from printing bills in different sizes or different colors, though, which is a common technique.

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**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-blind-person-to-differentiate-between-us-currency/999600/4 "2024-03-30T17:34:13Z")

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> [@MikeS](#):
>
> That wouldn’t stop them from printing bills in different sizes or different colors, though, which is a common technique.

Right, so my understanding is that, with assistance, blind people fold the different denominations in different ways so they can tell them apart. I’m sure there’s other techniques but that’s the one I’m aware of.

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-for-a-blind-person-to-differentiate-between-us-currency/999600/5 "2024-03-30T18:49:39Z")

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> [@MikeS](#):
>
> It’s worth noting that many other countries have designed their banknotes to be distinguishable by the visually impaired — by some embossed patterns, different sizes, different colors, high-contrast labelling, or some combination thereof.

Of course United States banknotes have the denomination in a larger size on the right side of the reverse, which might be enough for the visually impaired to recognize the number.