1 Gourde

Haiti's 1889 gourde issue appeared during a period of acute political instability — the country cycled through multiple heads of state across the 1880s, and monetary policy reflected that disorder. Bronze at this denomination was a concession to fiscal reality; silver issues had become increasingly difficult to sustain as government revenues eroded under debt obligations still trailing back to the indemnity extracted by France in 1825.

KM#51 is seldom encountered with original surfaces intact, consistent with heavy use in a cash-dependent rural economy where small transactions left little room for coin preservation.