Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Gourdes - Faustin I Essai, small bust
| Issuer | Empire of Haiti |
|---|---|
| Year | 1854 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Bare-headed bust of Emperor Faustin I (Faustin Soulouque) in left-facing profile, with closely cropped curly hair and a truncated shoulder cut. The effigy is rendered in relatively low relief in a classical neoclassical style and occupies the central field. The circular legend reads FAUSTIN IER. EMPEREUR. along the upper periphery, separated from the border by a fine toothed rim. The overall composition is austere and unadorned, consistent with the so-called small bust variety of this essai issue. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | FAUSTIN IER. EMPEREUR. (Translation: Emperor Faustin I) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Faustin Soulouque seized power in 1847 after Haitian elites miscalculated that he could be manipulated, then declared himself Emperor Faustin I in 1849 — one of only two self-proclaimed emperors in Caribbean history. The essai coinage of 1854 was part of a broader effort to furnish his empire with the trappings of legitimate monarchical rule, including a proper struck coinage. Most essais from this reign never advanced to circulation issues, leaving pattern pieces as the primary physical numismatic record of his imperial ambitions.
The "small bust" distinction differentiates this piece from at least one other known 1854 essai variety, suggesting multiple die trials were conducted before the project stalled.