2 Gourdes

The Trésor Public d'Haïti issued this note just three years after the newly independent republic agreed to the infamous 1825 indemnity — a 150-million-franc debt imposed by France as the price of diplomatic recognition. That financial burden immediately crippled the Haitian treasury, and emergency domestic paper issues like this one were part of the government's attempt to manage circulation under extreme fiscal strain.

At this date, Haitian paper money was regarded with deep suspicion by the general population, and forced-currency legislation was repeatedly necessary to compel acceptance. Notes from this period survived poorly; the tropical climate was brutal on paper, and redemption drives destroyed much of what circulation hadn't already consumed.