Catalog
5 Gourdes
| Issuer | Trésor Public d'Haïti |
|---|---|
| Year | 1826 |
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| Value | 5 Gourdes |
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| Obverse description | The Haitian National Coat of Arms is centered at the top of the note, flanked by the republican mottoes 'Liberté' and 'Egalité'. The denomination 'Cinq Gourdes' appears in large letterpress text along both vertical margins, with small vignettes of cannons repeated at each corner and along the lower border. The body of the note carries a typeset French-language text authorizing circulation by arrêté of the President of Haiti, dated Port-au-Prince 1826, with manuscript signatures of the Trésorier-Général and other officials on the left margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Liberté. Egalité. Cinq Gourdes. CINQ GOURDES. Le présent Billet circulera dans la République pour la valeur de CINQ GOURDES, d'après l'Arrêté du Président d'Haïti, en date du 25 Septembre dernier, et le Trésor public garantit la valeur de cette somme au porteur du présent. Port-au-Prince, le 3 Octobre 1826, an 23e de l'Indépendance. Le Trésorier-Général, |
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| Comments |
Haiti's Trésor Public began issuing paper money in the early 1820s under President Jean-Pierre Boyer, partly to manage the crippling indemnity payments France demanded in exchange for diplomatic recognition — a debt Haiti formally accepted in 1825. Domestic printing rather than a foreign security printer was the practical choice for a government with severely constrained resources and no established banking infrastructure.
Locally printed treasury notes from this period are genuinely rare survivors. Paper quality was poor, redemption uneven, and political instability through the 1840s saw multiple currency reforms that wiped out earlier emissions.