Catalog
25 Gourdes
| Issuer | Trésor Public d'Haïti |
|---|---|
| Year | 1827 |
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| Currency | First gourde (1813-1870) |
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| Obverse description | The Haitian national coat of arms appears at the top centre, flanked by the inscriptions "Liberté" and "Egalité" on either side. A boxed denomination vignette reading "25 g.des" occupies the central field, with the body text stating the note circulates in the Republic for the value of VINGT-CINQ GOURDES by virtue of the law of 16 April 1827, with the public treasury guaranteeing payment to the bearer. A vertical letterpress inscription "REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI" runs along the left border, "Vingt-cinq Gourdes" along the right, and two manuscript signatures appear at the foot, one for the President of the Chambre des Comptes and one for the Trésorier Général. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI Liberté. Egalité. 25 gdes Vingt-cinq Gourdes Le présent Billet circulera dans la République pour la valeur de VINGT-CINQ GOURDES, en vertu de la Loi du 16 Avril 1827, et le Trésor public garantit la valeur de cette somme au porteur du présent. Vu: Pour le Président de la Chambre des Comptes, Vu: Pour le Trésorier Général, |
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Haiti's Trésor Public notes of 1827 were issued under President Jean-Pierre Boyer, whose administration had just committed Haiti to an extraordinary financial burden: the 1825 indemnity agreement with France, under which Haiti agreed to pay 150 million francs — later reduced to 90 million — in exchange for French recognition of independence. The state treasury was under severe strain almost immediately, and domestic paper issues were part of an increasingly desperate attempt to manage public finance.
Pick 8 is among the rarest surviving Haitian paper issues of the nineteenth century. The Trésor Public series had no central bank backing it — redemption depended entirely on government revenue, which was already being routed toward indemnity payments to Paris.