The Huguenot-Walloon half dollar is a commemorative coin issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1924. It marks the 300th anniversary of the voyage of the Nieuw Nederland. Many of the passengers were Protestants, Huguenots from France or Walloons from Belgium; they became early settlers of New York State and the surrounding areas. A bill to authorize the coin passed through Congress without opposition in 1923 and was signed by President Warren G. Harding. Sketches were prepared by Rev. John Baer Stoudt and converted to plaster models by the Mint's chief engraver, George T. Morgan. Of the 300,000 coins authorized by Congress, fewer than half were actually struck, and of these, 55,000 were returned to the Mint and released into circulation. The coin excited some controversy because of its sponsorship by a religious group. The coins are currently valued in the hundreds of dollars, depending on condition.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot-Walloon_half_dollar
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1600:
Scottish nobleman John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie, was killed during what was most likely a failed attempt to kidnap King James VI. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ruthven,_3rd_Earl_of_Gowrie
1888:
Bertha Benz made the first long-distance automobile trip, driving 106 km (66 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, in a Benz Patent-Motorwagen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz
1916:
First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine Campaign began with a victory in the Battle of Romani. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Romani
1962:
Actress and model Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, an event that has become the center of one of the most debated conspiracy theories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Marilyn_Monroe
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
ark at ee: 1. (Bristol and West Country, informal) Listen to you; listen to yourself; listen to it. 2. (Bristol and West Country, informal) Used to draw attention to something or someone. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ark_at_ee
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have said repeatedly that as poetry is the highest speech of man, it can not only accept and contain, but in the end express best everything in the world, or in himself, that he discovers. It will absorb and transmute, as it always has done, and glorify, all that we can know. This has always been, and always will be, poetry’s office. --Conrad Aiken https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Conrad_Aiken