Commems Collection Classic: Quick Bits 119 - A Pilgrim-Huguenot Connection

I recently posted about a Huguenot connection between the 1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Half Dollar and the 1938 New Rochelle, New York 250th Anniversary Half Dollar. (Read about it here: - Quick Bits 118 - A Huguenot Connection.)

I'm back with another Huguenot connection, this time with the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in what is today Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims and Huguenots were each the subject of persecution due to their religious beliefs: Pilgrims - Calvinists vs. Church of England, Huguenots - Protestants vs. Catholic Church in France. Both groups took refuge in Leiden, Netherlands, a tolerant city that accepted them (and others) regardless of their religious beliefs. (The residents of Leiden had, themselves, been oppressed and persecuted under Spanish Catholic rule in the late-16th through mid-17th centuries.)

The Pilgrims lived in Leiden from 1608 until their voyage to the New World in 1620. The Huguenots settled in the Netherlands, including in Leiden, years later - circa 1650 to 1700 - which followed the time of their involvement in the settling of the future New York City in the 1620s.

Despite the time period difference, the link between the Pilgrims, the Huguenots and the city of Leiden is a verifiable element of history.

1920 Landing of the Pilgrims Tercentenary


1924 Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary




For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other Pilgrim Landing and Huguenot-Walloon posts, see: Commems Collection.