I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of Princess Wilhelmina stationery cards and I only acquire these cards when they are of interest for my special collections. This particular card though is different, but I am still in doubt why… It probably has something to do with the enigmatic message on the reverse and the addressee.
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The card was sent from Utrecht on the 21st of September between 8-9 a.m. and arrived in Antwerp the same day between 6-8 p.m. Apart from the marvelous engraving of princess Wilhelmina, the Dutch coat of arms adorns the card.
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The message on the reverse is very simple: “Amice, Please preserve this for me. H g.” A very intriguing text but alas the answer part of the card has been lost, so we might never know why the sender wished to keep this card…
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The card was addressed to Albertus Antonie Nijland (1868-1936), a Dutch astronomer who was known for his sightings of so-called variable stars. A crater on the moon has been named the Nijland Crater in honour of him.
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For the original publication see the Dutch Philately blog by Hugo Brieffies.