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>
Show replies by date