1982 United States - Netherlands Joint Issue Covers

Today I'd like to present Part I of a discussion regarding first day covers from another joint US stamp issue, this time with the Netherlands. In future posts, I will present additional FDCs for the issue and also present a coin (issued by the Netherlands) and a medal (issued by the US) that were struck for the anniversary.

In 1982, the US Postal Service and PostNL marked the 200th anniversary of the 1782 Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Netherlands with the issuance of three stamps (one by the US and two by the Netherlands). The US stamp had a value of 20 cents, the Netherlands stamps had values of 50 and 65 cents. The first day of issue for the stamps was April 20, 1982.

The stamps share a common core design that was created by Gert Dunbar of the Netherlands. They each feature red, white and blue diagonal strips which are representative of the colors in each nation's flag. The text included on each. as would be expected, varies and is country-specific.

Fleetwood issued four FDCs for the stamp: a standalone US cover and a Joint Issue Set of three covers (one for the US stamp, one for the two Netherlands stamps and one for the stamps of both nations.

The scene depicted on Fleetwood's standalone FDC for the US stamp is that of John Adams and the treaty negotiating team from the Netherlands. Adams began treaty discussions with the Netherlands as the US' Minister Plenipotentiary (a step below Ambassador). By the time the treaty was signed, however, Adams had been promoted to US Ambassador to the Netherlands; he became Ambassador on April 19, 1782, the treaty was signed on October 8, 1782.

The cachet depicts John Adams in the foreground, on the viewer's side of a table, with four representatives of the Netherlands behind it. It should be noted that while Adams was the single US signature on the treaty, the Netherlands had eight plenipotentiaries sign/seal the final document not four. They were: George van Randwyck, Bartholomeus van den Santheuvel, Pieter van Bleiswyck, Willem Carel Hendrik van Lynden van Blitterswyck, Derk Jan van Heeckeren, Joan van Kuffeler, Frederick Gysbert van Dedem tot den Gelder and Herman Tjassens. So, the scene depicted does include a bit of artistic license.




Much more to come!

A little off the track, but I still miss the Bicentennial era. Also the 20's-50's engraved stamps.

Jack Kelley

The USPS press release photo of the U.S. version:

In addition to the standalone US stamp FDC I previously posted, Fleetwood also issued a Joint Issue Series of FDCs for the 1982 stamps commemorating the US-Netherlands 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Each of the covers features a cachet derived from artwork created by Charles Lundgren (1911-1988), a well-known maritime artist/painter. (Side note: the realism portrayed in Lundgren's work is outstanding! I suggest a Google search for his paintings if you enjoy art depicting ships of all types.) All of the covers were postmarked on April 20, 1982, the first day of issue for each country.

The US stamp FDC from the Joint Issue Series focuses on John Paul Jones and his popularity among the Dutch people (the details are on the cover). The cachet depicts the sailing ship Alliance heading for America (after leaving Dutch territory) with Jones as its captain.




The Netherlands FDC features an example of each of the two stamps issued by the Netherlands post office. As noted previously, the stamps of the US and the Netherlands share a common design created by Gert Dunbar of the Netherlands.

The cachet on the Netherlands stamps FDC depicts a commercial Dutch sailing ship en route to America to trade with US merchants. (See the story on the back of the cover to learn more about how the Netherlands supported America in its fight against the British, before and after July 4, 1776.)




The cachet on the dual FDC with the stamps from each country depicts sailing ships from the Netherlands and the US; the ships are shown in a harbor vs. under sail on the open sea. A mini-bio for Lundgren is presented on the cover's back.




More to come!

It's been awhile since I added to this post, so...


Here's a first day cover issued by the Netherlands for the 200th anniversary of the 1782 Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Netherlands. The cover features each of the two stamps issued by the Netherlands; they were cancelled with a commemorative postmark on April 20, 1982 (the first day of issue for both countries).