| Added by |
 Bart Perdieus
|
| General Description : | Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French; Sankt Nikolaus in German) is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) and Artois (Arras). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including South Africa, Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.[1] Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas, he is also known as De Goedheiligman (The Good Holy Man), Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas) or simply as De Sint (The Saint). He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas — patron saint of children, sailors, and the city of Amsterdam, among others. Sint Nicholas being a bishop and this geographical spread make clear that the feast in this form has a Roman Catholic background. |
| Face value | 4 + 4 cent |
| Catalog code (Michel) | NL 767 |
| Catalog code (Scott) | NL B358 |
| Catalog code | Yvert et Tellier NL 740 Stanley Gibbons NL 914 AFA number NL 767 NVPH NL 759 Unificato NL 740 |
| Stamp colour | red |
| Stamp use | Semi Postal stamp |
| Print run | 9.352.180 |
| Issue date | 13/11/1961 |
| Designer | H. Bottema |
| Print technique | Offset lithography |
| Printed by | Joh. Enschedé en Zonen |
| Perforation | 12 1/2 x 12 |
| Height | 32.00 mm |
| Width | 25.00 mm |
| Catalog prices | No catalog prices set yet |
