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100 Gourdes

Issuer Banque Nationale de la République d'Haïti
Year 1925-1932
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Shape Rectangular
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Obverse description Left vignette in an oval frame presents a rural scene of field workers harvesting crops amid tropical vegetation, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. The heading reads BANQUE NATIONALE DE LA REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI across the top, with the denomination CENT GOURDES inscribed below the central guilloche panel. Two signature lines appear at the bottom, attributed to UN ADMINISTRATEUR at left and UN DIRECTEUR at right, with the imprint AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY at the foot.
Obverse lettering BANQUE NATIONALE DE LA REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI
CENT GOURDES
100
UN ADMINISTRATEUR
UN DIRECTEUR
AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY
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Comments

The Banque Nationale de la République d'Haïti during this period was operating under a peculiar arrangement: the bank was effectively controlled by the National City Bank of New York following the 1915 U.S. occupation, which placed American financial interests directly over Haitian monetary policy until 1934. These high-denomination notes circulated within an economy where that figure represented serious purchasing power, and the American Bank Note Company contract was a direct consequence of that occupation-era financial architecture rather than any independent procurement decision by Haiti.

The gourde had been pegged at five to the U.S. dollar since 1919, a rate that held with unusual stability through this entire issue period.