The School for the Blind Commemorative

To recognize the 200th anniversary of the School for the Blind in Budapest, the Hungarian Mint has released a pair of legal-tender coins, available in silver and copper-nickel versions. 

The obverse features a detail from the stained-glass window of the School for the Blind building, which depicts a young blind girl reading. In the background, the braille legend reads 200 ÉVES A VAKOK OKTATÁSA MAGYARORSZÁGON (“200 years of education for the blind in Hungary”). The upper half of the reverse shows a schematic detail from the facade of the School for the Blind building, and the bottom half features the legend from the obverse, along with the date of the school’s founding, 1825, in braille. The .925-fine silver coin has a face value of 20,000 forint, and the copper-nickel version is 3,000 forint. Available from the Hungarian Mint’s website, the coins each have a mintage of 5,000. 

The School for the Blind

The School for the Blind in Budapest is the largest specialized institution for the education of the blind and partially sighted children in Hungary. The campus includes the Methodology Institute, a kindergarten and preschool, a primary school (grades 1-8), a resource center, a boarding school, a children’s home, and the Special Vocational Training School that teaches trades such as computer operator, carpet-maker, and pottery maker. Founded in 1825, the institution is the only state school of its kind in Hungary. It provides services to 200 students between the ages of 3 and 23. The school is one of 37 members of the European Network for Vision Impairment, Training, Education, and Research (ENVITER).