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!
500 Gourdes
| Issuer | Banque de la République d'Haïti |
|---|---|
| Year | 1988 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central oval vignette of the Haitian National Coat of Arms — a palm tree surmounted by a Liberty cap, flanked by cannons and cannonballs, with the national motto 'L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE' on a ribbon below. The design is printed in red with large numeral denominators '500' in white relief guilloche cartouches at left and right, and the bank title 'BANQUE DE LA REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI' at top. Below the arms, the legend 'CINQ CENTS GOURDES' appears in bold, with a redemption clause in smaller text and the printer's imprint 'AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY' at the foot. |
| Reverse lettering | BANQUE DE LA REPUBLIQUE D'HAITI CINQ CENTS GOURDES CE BILLET EST PAYABLE AU PORTEUR AU TAUX DE CINQ GOURDES POUR UN DOLLAR EN MONNAIE LEGALE DES ETATS-UNIS D'AMERIQUE. AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The American Bank Note Company printed Haitian currency for decades, and by 1988 the relationship was in its final stretch — ABNC ceased operations in 1990 after filing for bankruptcy, ending over two centuries of security printing. Notes from this late production period occasionally show slightly less crisp intaglio than earlier ABNC work, a known consequence of aging equipment and the company's financial deterioration in its last years.
Haiti's late-1980s issues circulated against a backdrop of severe political instability following the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986, which put sustained pressure on the gourde and drove significant hoarding of higher denominations.