Classic Commemorative History #2

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The first one of these was around the Isabella Quarter.

 

These will not be in a normal sequence like you'd see in a book. I just want to share some history around the Commem's in my collection.

 

Let's discuss the 1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary half dollar:

 

A Mike Printz coin and image. (thumbs u Snagged this one from Mike in Feb of 2010.

 

 

Issued in commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the settling of New Netherland, the Middle States, in 1624, by Walloons, French and Belgian Huguenots, under the Dutch West India Company.

 

This issue of souvenir half-dollars was struck at the Philadelphia Mint during February and April, 1924, from models prepared by G.T. Morgan of the Mint. A total of 142,080 pieces, 80 for assay, were struck-approximately half the 300,000 coin authorization; these were distributed by the bank authorized in the Act, at one dollar each. All but 55,000 of these coins were sold to the public at a premium. The remaining coins were placed in circulation at face value in order to avoid their return to the Mint and the subsequent recoining expenses.

 

 

Coin Description:

Obverse: Profiles of Admiral Coligny and William the Silent, with their names, in small letters, below. Inscription above, “United States of America.” Below, “Huguenot Half Dollar.” To right of busts, “In God We Trust.”

 

Reverse: Ship Nieu Netherland, in which the first 30 families of settlers came to New York, with the dates at the sides, “1624” and “1924.” Inscription above, “Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary.” Below, “Founding of New Netherland.”

 

 

Map made by Adriaen Block of is 1614 expedition to North America. It is the first map to show Long Island as an island. It is also the first appearance of the term “New Netherland” to describe the colony.

 

 

In 1626, the Dutch West India Company sent Peter Minuit as Director-General to the new settlement. A group of permanent colonists had arrived in New York harbor in the vessel “Nieu Nederland” in 1624 under Cornelius Mey, the first governor. Soon after his arrival in the New World, Minuit became friendly with the local Indians and purchased Manhattan Island for a nominal sum (reputedly twenty-four dollars) in the name of his Company.

 

There were other Huguenot-Walloon colonies in South Carolina and in Florida; however, the term “Middle States” in the Act refers only to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware settlements. The settlement which centered about Manhattan Island was the most prosperous in later years. The colony was called New Netherland from the time of its settlement until 1664. In that year, after the territory had been torn from the possession of the Dutch, the name was changed, by the English, to New York, in honor of the Duke of York, who later ruled as James II.

 

 

Admiral Gaspard Coligny and William, the Silent were Protestant leaders of the reformation, during the latter part of the 16th Century. Coligny was killed in 1572, and Prince William was assassinated in 1584. Their relationship to the founding of New Netherland in 1624, nearly half a century later, is a spiritual rather than a factual one.

 

 

Admiral Coligny

 

 

It is notable that the Act authorizes a coinage to commemorate an event, whereas the coin portrays persons only indirectly associated with the occasion.

 

The coin is issued by the Huguenot-Walloon New Netherland Commission, with headquarters in New York City, of which Rev. John Baer Stoudt, a member of the ANA, is director. A fitting celebration of the event has been organized by the National Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Commission, instituted by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America. The celebration will take place on April 27, 1924, and is to be observed by all the descendants of the Walloons, French and Belgian Huguenots who came to this country under the Dutch West India Company.

 

The act authorizing this issue of coins provided that 300,000 might be struck. Only a comparatively small number will be struck at first, and additional pieces will be struck as the demand warrants. The bill also provides that they shall be issued only upon the request of the Fifth National Bank, New York City, which will act as distributing agent.

 

This coin should possess a special interest for members of the ANA, since the director of the commission is a member of our association, and President Wormser has been consulted and has acted in an advisory capacity with the commission. This is the first instance, we believe, where a numismatic organization or its officers have been consulted in the issue of a commemorative half dollar. A letter from President Wormser has been sent out by the commission, as follows

 

THE AMERICAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION

Office of the President

95 Fifth Avenue, New York.

 

January 29, 1924

To Whom It May Concern:

This is to certify that from time to time I have had the privilege to act in an advisory capacity with the Director of the Huguenot-Walloon New Netherland Tercentenary, in the issuing of the Huguenot Memorial half dollar, which the mint in Philadelphia is about to strike.

 

I have passed on the designs and seen proof of the obverse side. I feel safe in saying that I believe this coin will surpass all previous U.S. commemorative coins in both attractiveness and historical significance and feel certain, too, that it will appeal not only to those of Huguenot, Walloon, or Dutch extraction, but to all citizens of every section of our country who are interested in the romantic history of its founding as a refuge for the oppressed.

 

I have confidence in the management of the Tercentenary, which I am assured is free from the keen commercialism too often apparent in the distribution of commemorative coins.

 

The first run, I am informed, will consist of twenty thousand coins, and thereafter only four thousand are to be coined at a time. It is proposed to strike not more than one hundred thousand at most. All coins remaining on hand after a certain date are to be returned to the mint for remelting.

 

The good faith of the Commission is evident from the fact that they have come to the American Numismatic Association for suggestions and advice, particularly as to selling methods that should protect the purchasers who buy these coins at a premium over face.

 

(Signed) Moritz Wormser,

President, American Numismatic Association

 

Some interesting history in connection with the first settlement of New Netherland is contained in a circular sent out by the commission, as follows:

 

Since the publication of an historical discussion of the date of the permanent settlement of New Netherland in our nineteenth annual report, interesting light has been thrown upon this important event by the publication of the journal of Jesse de Forest, who, on July 21, 1621, sent a petition to the Virginia Company for permission to send a colony to America. This journal and other valuable information are given in “A Walloon Family in America,” by Mrs. Robert W. de Forest, who was an ancestor of Mr. Robert W. de Forest, of New York City, was a native of Avesnes. Three of his children, Isaac, Henry and Rachel, the last of whom married Jean Mousnier de la Montagne, were among the earliest European inhabitants of New York. From The Numismatist March 1924.

 

William the Silent

 

 

There was considerable agitation concerning this issue.

Some desired its suppression feeling that it was solely a vehicle for religious propaganda and, as such, un-American and unsuitable for the national coinage. The bill for this issue of souvenir coins included, as sponsors, several religious leaders-the first instance in which religious groups had actively participated in an issue of coins.

 

Since the occasion for the coinage was the settling of the Huguenots and Walloons in the New World, it was contended that American events associated with the settling could have supplied the types for the coinage.

 

Courtesy of the U. S. Commission of Fine Arts.

 

Minutes of Meeting held in Washington, D. C., November 15 and 16, 1923.

 

The following members were present:

Mr. Moore, Chairman,

Mr. Greenleaf,

Mr. Fraser,

Mr. Ayres,

Mr. Bacon,

Mr. Mowbray,

Mr. Medary,

 

Also Mr. H. P. Caemmerer, Secretary and Executive Officer.

 

Huguenot-Walloon Memorial Coin: Under date of October 26, 1923, the Director of the Mint, Treasury Department, submitted to the Commission models made at the United States Mint, of the Huguenot-Walloon Memorial 50-cent piece, which is to be minted by authority of Congress for the Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary celebration in 1924. The obverse of the model showed the portrait of Coligny and William the Silent, and the reverse a design of the ship New Netherland.

 

The Commission inspected the models. Mr. Fraser felt that the composition of the design was good but that the execution was bad. The Commission decided that the work on the models does not conform to the standards set by the Commission and disapproved them. (Exhibit A).

 

EXHIBIT A

 

November 19, 1923

 

Dear Sir:

The models for the Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary coin, submitted by your Bureau under date of October 26, 1923, received the attention of the Commission of Fine Arts at their meeting on November 15th.

 

While the ideas intended to be expressed are excellent, the execution is bad. The lettering is poor, the heads are not well modeled and the ship is ill designed. The workmanship is below the standard of excellence attained in previous coins. The models are therefore not approved.

 

The models are herewith returned.

 

Very respectfully, yours,

Charles Moore,

Chairman

 

The Director of the Mint,

Treasury Department,

Washington, D. C.

 

 

Enjoy your coins and learn their history.

 

Don't be a Slab or Registry Collector.