The first U.S. coin to feature readable Braille, a billion dollar currency exhibit and a guest appearance by President Abraham Lincoln will highlight the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo when it gets underway here this Thursday through Saturday, March 26-28, 2009.

The Expo, which includes more than 1,200 coin and currency dealers, is free of admission charge.

Among the highlights:

The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar will be on display in a special exhibit by the National Federation of the Blind. The first U.S. coin to feature readable Braille, it was struck to honor Louis Braille, who invented the system of writing with raised dots that allows the blind to read and write. A $10 surcharge on each coin sold will help raise $8 million to fund much-needed Braille literacy programs.

History comes to life as Dennis Boggs presents President Abraham Lincoln on the 100^th anniversary of the release of Lincoln cents and the Bicentennial of President Lincoln’s birth. Boggs, who bears a striking resemblance to Lincoln, draws on his extensive knowledge of the period to create an enlightening and educational look at the life of the 16^th President as Lincoln himself might have told it. Anyone attending the Expo is invited to have a free souvenir photo made with “President Lincoln,” and the first 2,500 visitors to do so will also be given a new Lincoln cent. Sessions begin at 1pm on Friday, March 27 and again at 10am on Saturday, March 28 at Booth 1559.

Publisher Dennis Tucker will present “Abraham Lincoln: The Image of His Greatness” at 11am on Saturday, March 28, at the Charles Street North Show Office. The presentation draws on the recently published book by Fred Reed detailing the many coins, medals, tokens and ephemera bearing Lincoln’s likeness. Rounding out the Lincoln-themed elements of the Expo, The Bureau of Engraving and Printing will offer a collectible Lincoln intaglio print card, the second in the Bicentennial Series, for $20. The card features engraved images of a Lincoln stamp; Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln; and their son, Robert Todd Lincoln.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s Billion Dollar Exhibit features more than $1 Billion worth of rare and antique currency, including sheets of $100,000 currency notes—the largest denomination of currency printed in the U.S. Live demonstrations of a 19^th century spider press, engraving techniques and damaged paper currency will also be conducted. Consult whitmanexpo.com and click on “Baltimore Show” for details.

A special Kids’ Corner is open throughout show hours on Friday and Saturday and includes a fun and educational introduction to collecting. The Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo is open to the public free of charge from 2pm until 6:00pm on Thursday, March 26 and from 10am until 6pm on Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28.