Catalog
5 Gourdes
| Issuer | Banque Nationale d'Haïti |
|---|---|
| Year | 1908 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Third gourde (1872-date) |
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| Obverse description | Two portrait vignettes of President Pierre Nord Alexis (1820–1910) positioned at left and right, with the National Coat of Arms of Haiti at centre. Intricate guilloche underprint patterns frame the central design, with denomination and issuing authority inscriptions. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | CEUX QUI AURONT CONTREFAIT OU FALSIFIÉ LES BILLETS DE CETTE ÉMISSION ET CEUX QUI AURONT FAIT USAGE DE CES BILLETS CONTREFAITS OU FALSIFIÉS SERONT PUNIS CONFORMÉMENT A LA LOI. RÉPUBLIQUE D'HAÏTI AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
The Banque Nationale d'Haïti was not a Haitian institution in any meaningful sense of the word — it operated under a 1880 concession granted to a French financial syndicate, giving foreign interests direct control over the national treasury, customs revenues, and the exclusive right to issue currency. The 1908 series appeared during that arrangement, well before the American occupation of 1915 forced a restructuring of Haitian banking entirely.
ABNC's involvement was typical of the period across Latin America and the Caribbean, though Haiti's political instability through these years meant notes often returned to the bank in poor condition — high turnover, rapid re-issue.