Catalog
2 Gourdes Independence
| Issuer | Banque Nationale d'Haïti |
|---|---|
| Year | 1904 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries portrait vignettes of Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Jacques I) at left and President Pierre Nord Alexis at right, flanking the National Coat of Arms at center. The composition is framed by intricate guilloche scrollwork borders characteristic of American Bank Note Company engraving of the early twentieth century. The overall layout is symmetrical, with the denomination and issuer inscriptions integrated into the decorative border work. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIE LES BILLETS DE CETTE EMISSION ET CEUX QUI AURONT FAIT USAGE DE CES BILLETS CONTREFAITS OU FALSIFIES, SERONT PUNIS CONFORMEMENT A LA LOI. REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI |
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| Comments |
This note marks the centennial of Haitian independence — 1904 was the hundredth anniversary of the declaration at Gonaïves on January 1st, 1804, and the Banque Nationale d'Haïti issued commemorative currency specifically to mark the occasion. The American Bank Note Company had been the Haitian government's preferred security printer for decades by this point, producing both the engraved plates and the finished notes from their Pearl Street facilities in lower Manhattan.
Pick 121 is genuinely scarce. Centennial issues were not produced in large quantities, and Haiti's tumultuous early twentieth century — foreign receivership of customs revenue began just four years later — meant that banking records and note stocks from this period were poorly preserved.