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Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Issue

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1-cent Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary "Nieu Nederland" single

The Post Office Department issued several commemorative stamps in the 1920s and 1930s that recognized the diversity of national origins that comprised the American 'melting pot'. The stamp issue set something of a precedent for honoring immigrant groups.

The three stamps of the Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Series, issued on May 1, 1924, commemorated the 300th anniversary of settlement in New Netherlands, now the State of New York. In 1624 a group of approximately thirty Belgian families, most of them French-speaking Walloons from the south of Belgium sailed to the New World aboard the vessel 'Nieu Nederland'. Persecuted for their Protestant beliefs, they sought religious freedom.

The series also honors the Huguenots, sixteenth-century French Protestants who, like the Walloons, suffered persecution for their religious beliefs. Under the leadership of Jean Ribaut (c.1520–1565), a group of Huguenots sailed from Dieppe, France, in February 1562, seeking refuge from religious persecution. They landed at the mouth of Florida's St. John's River in May 1562.

Roger S. Brody

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1-cent Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary "Nieu Nederland" single

This first denomination of the Huguenot-Walloon Issue has as its subject the ship ‘Nieu Nederland’ that brought the Walloons to their new settlement in 1624. The settlement, now in the state of New York, was called 'New Netherland'.

As a single, the 1-cent stamp typically paid the one-cent card rate. It was also commonly used with other denominations to fulfill large-weight and foreign destination rates. An estimated total of over to 51 million stamps of the one-cent issue were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and issued to the public.

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2-cent Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Walloons landing at Fort Orange single

The two-cent denomination of the Huguenot-Walloon Issue featured the landing of the Walloons at Albany. As a single, the two-cent stamp typically paid the first-class domestic rate. But it was also commonly used with other denominations to fulfill large-weight and foreign destination rates. An estimated total of over 77 million stamps of the two-cent issue were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and issued to the public!

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5-cent Ribault Monument single

The image for the final, five-cent denomination of the Huguenot-Walloon Issue came from a rough sketch done of the Jan Ribault Monument in Mayport, Florida. The five-cent stamp was commonly used with other denominations to fulfill large-weight and foreign destination rates. An estimated total of close to 6 million stamps of the five-cent issue were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and issued to the public.

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