0 Euro - Toussaint l'Ouverture 1743-1803

EuroSouvenir novelty notes occupy an odd niche — legal in design terms because the zero denomination removes them from counterfeiting law, yet printed by Oberthur Fiduciaire, one of the most serious security printers in the world. That combination of genuine fiduciary production and deliberate worthlessness is the whole point of the series.

Toussaint L'Ouverture led the only successful large-scale slave revolt in history, culminating in Haitian independence, though he died in a French prison at Fort de Joux before seeing it. His 1743 birth date, used here, is the traditionally accepted one — the actual record is uncertain.