New stamps on Louis Braille

The letters that appear to be missing on this pane of stamps from the Netherlands are supplied by embossed braille dots. The pane honors the 200th birth anniversary of Louis Braille and the 180th anniversary of his invention of the braille system of writing for the blind and visually impaired.

Louis Braille was born Jan. 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France. His native country, and many others, have been issuing stamps this year to celebrate the bicentennial of his birth.The Netherlands celebrated two anniversaries - the 200th anniversary of Braille's birth and the 180th anniversary of the introduction of his invention of the braille system of writing - on a pane of 12 stamps issued Jan. 10, 2009. The pane, called Read Along, is designed to be read both by the sighted and the visually impaired.

Slovenia issued a souvenir sheet Jan. 30 to honor Louis Braille. The design features an eye.Eyes are featured on commemorative stamps from Ireland and Slovenia.

An Post (Ireland's post office) describes the design of its black-and-white stamp for Braille: "Designed by Red Dog Design Consultants, the stamp features an eye created with a series of dots representing braille as a system that extends the senses through the organization of a minimal form. The denomination 55c is reproduced in Braille."Slovenia's €2.38 stamp, which also includes braille embossing, is in a souvenir sheet.