Henri Christophe ruled the northern Kingdom of Haiti as Henri I from 1811, having split the island's revolutionary republic into two rival states — his monarchy in the north, Pétion's republic in the south. This essai was struck in 1812 as part of a proposed coinage for the kingdom, almost certainly produced in France or England rather than domestically, as Haiti had no functioning mint infrastructure at the time.
The kingdom itself lasted only until 1820, when Christophe suffered a stroke and, facing a military revolt, shot himself with a silver bullet — or so the account persists.
Henri Christophe ruled the northern Kingdom of Haiti as Henri I from 1811, having split the island's revolutionary republic into two rival states — his monarchy in the north, Pétion's republic in the south. This essai was struck in 1812 as part of a proposed coinage for the kingdom, almost certainly produced in France or England rather than domestically, as Haiti had no functioning mint infrastructure at the time.
The kingdom itself lasted only until 1820, when Christophe suffered a stroke and, facing a military revolt, shot himself with a silver bullet — or so the account persists.