The men who madeup the Holland Society of New York would have liked it better had it been called the Holland Society of New Amsterdam.The Holland Society of New York (HSNY) was organized in 1885. On April 30th a constitution was adopted, and the next daythe Society was incorporated in the State of New York. The purpose of the Society was

Membership was limited to 1,000 men, all direct descendants throughthe male line of a Dutchman who was a native or resident of New York or of the American colonies prior to 1675. It was 2016before women were admitted to full membership in the Society.

On March 30, 1887, a special committee presented a badge design to the trustees. The design was based on ancient geuzenpen-ningen () derived from plasters procured from originals in the Museum of Antiquities of Amsterdam, Holland.

Tiffany & Co. prepared the design, and thetrustees adopted this form of the Beggars'Badge as the insignia for the Society.

The obverse was a left-facing portraitbust of Philip II of Spain surrounded by themotto: EN TOUT FIDELLES AU ROY. Thereverse depicts two beggars' wallets, withtwo hands clasped in the center. Betweenthem is the date 1566 surrounded by themotto JUSQUES A PORTER LABESACE.

The motto is continuous from obverse toreverse: The edge is looped at thetop, with projecting rings left and right fromwhich are hung miniature porringers. Afinal loop at the bottom holds a tiny gourd.This oval silver medal, 1-inch x 3/4-inch, issuspended from an orange ribbon attachedto a horizontal pin back header with HOLLAND SOCIETY on its face. Within a yearthe header was revised to read HOLLANDSOCIETY / OF NEW YORK. The reverse ofthe header is marked TIFFANY & CO. Thewhole badge is 3-inch x 1-inch. In 1897 thesilver badge was $6. It was also available ingold for $28. Today, it is available in 14Kgold for $2,800.

The story behind this medal is that in1566, a number of Dutch nobles petitionedMargaret of Parma, King Philip's Regent inthe Low Countries, for religious freedomand the end to the Inquisition. They werewilling to become beggars to accomplishthis including wearing a beggar's walletaround their necks and using beggingbowls to live. The nobles wore this medalaround their necks. The medal committeethought this Beggars' Medal was the mostsignificant medal ever struck in Hollandand considered it a fitting memorial to thefirst steps toward civil and religious libertyin which the men of the Netherlands ledthe world. It was considered an appropriatetoken for a member of the Holland Societyto wear in recognition of the benefits hereceived from the heroic struggles of hisDutch forefathers.

The Holland Society had its first annualbanquet during the first January of its existence on January 8, 1886. The Society heldits 131st annual banquet on October 30,2021. It has invariably been the highlightof the year for the Society. This articlefocuses on a run of banquets from 1904 to1918 when it was the practice to presenteach member and guest with a souvenir ofthe evening and, as it turns out, a souvenirof the heritage of the Society.

Samuel R. Thayer (1837-1909) was theUnited States ambassador to the Netherlands from 1889 to 1893. In 1891 he visitedthe Royal Museum at The Hague. He discovered three medals there from the DutchProvince of Friesland that he consideredrelevant to prominent events in the historyof the United States. Thayer obtained fivesets of the medals, copied in zinc at his cost,and donated one set each to the U.S. StateDepartment, the New-York Historical Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society,the Minnesota State Historical Society, andthe Holland Society of New York. FromOctober 1891, one set has been preservedamong the treasures of the Holland Society.

The 19th Annual Banquet of the HollandSociety featured replicas of the secondmedal in the Thayer gift. They were givento all members and guests as souvenirs. Themedal was the hit of the evening. It wasoriginally struck to commemorate Holland'srecognition of United States Independence.

In exergue SOLEMNI DECR. AGN. / 19 APRMDCCLXXXII (A Free Sister, Acknowledged by Solemn Decree, 19 Apr. 1782).

5(Tyranny Repelled by Valor, Under theAuspices of France).

This medal by Johann Hotzhey is No.603 in the Betts catalog, in silver size 28 1/2. (1&25/32nds in.) It is assumed the HollandSociety zinc example is roughly the samesize. The dinner favor is bronze and 44mm,only 1.2mm smaller than the Betts example.

In very small lettering there is a continuous legend around both sides: MEDALSTRUCK BY THE UNITED PROVINCESOF THE NETHERLANDS 1782 IN HONOROF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE / PRESENTED BY THE HOLLAND SOCIETYOF NEW YORK JANUARY 1904. The medal was struck by Bailey, Banks & Biddle ofPhiladelphia. Over 400 medals were givenout on the night of the dinner. Because ofits overwhelmingly good reception, another400 medals were struck and given to allmembers who were unable to attend thebanquet. All subsequent souvenirs alsowent to absentees as well.

For more information on the Holland Society of New York, see:
https://hollandsociety.org/