Coins of Haiti

The island of Haiti was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. In 1659, the French proclaimed the colony of San Domingo on the western part of the island. 

 

During the colonial period, no special coins were minted for the island. It was easier to use Spanish silver dollars (8 reais) of Mexican coinage, on which over-checks were applied in order to control the money supply and prevent counterfeiting. At the same time, coins of the metropolis circulated in parallel in the country and natural exchange was widely used, in which tobacco and sugar were used in the calculations.

 

In 1791, inspired by the victory of the French Revolution, the slaves of the French colony of San Domingo revolted. In 1804, after 13 years of fierce struggle, the only successful slave uprising in world history - the Haitian Revolution, ended with the proclamation of the Republic of Haiti. The loss of this colony by France was one of the reasons for the formation of the Second French colonial Empire.

 

Naturally, the question arose in the young Republic of creating its own currency. It became the "gourde," put into circulation in 1814. The name of the currency is a French derivative of the Spanish "peso gordo," which means "thick peso" or "fat peso." So the colonialists called the Spanish dollar in circulation in the West Indies or the segment cut from this coin the size of the 1/5 part of the circle.

 

The first coins issued were silver 6, 12 and 25 centimes with the coat of arms of Haiti on the obverse and the profile of the incumbent on the reverse. Coins are supposedly minted at one of the local industries . The enterprising Haitian government, wanting to make money on the issue of coins, declared their face value much higher than the real value of the metal and exchanged French livres at the rate of 1 gourde = 8 livres 5 sous.

 

Approved in 1807, the coat of arms of the Republic of Haiti is a pile of flags, palm trees, cannons, cannons, drums, guns, anchors, axes, a Phrygian cap and much more.

 

 

The re-issue of regular coinage coins took place in 1827-1829, when denominations of 1, 2 centimes of copper and 12, 50, 100 centimes of silver were issued. Instead of the state emblem, the reverse of copper coins depicted fascine. This symbol was fixed on the coins of all subsequent issues until 1863.

 

The Haitian Republic has been plagued by countless changes of government and coups d'état since its founding. Having achieved freedom, the Negro slaves first slaughtered the entire white population of the island, and then set about the Indians, mestizos and mulattos. Today, representatives of the African race make up 95% of the country's population. Such a shift in ratios is usually for African states, but not for an island geographically related to North America.

 

It should be noted that in 1841 there were banknotes in circulation on the island with a total value of 3.5 million gourdes, secured by 1.5 million silver Spanish reais stored in the treasury, which testified to a fairly competent financial policy and financial well-being of the Republic at that time. Unfortunately, another coup in 1843 led to the depreciation of the paper gourd. Already in 1855, 12 paper gourds were given for 1 Spanish dollar, which is 4 times more than ten years earlier. In 1867, the rate was already 30 paper gourds for 1 Spanish dollar.

 

Another pre-issue of coins occurred in 1846-1849. These were copper coins in denominations of 1, 2, 6, 6 ¼ centimes.

 

 

In 1849, President-elect Faustin Soulouk Ely proclaimed himself Emperor Faustin I. In 1850, a line of "imperial" coins of Haiti was issued. 

 

 

After 10 years, in 1859, Faustin I was overthrown and Haiti again became a Republic . The catastrophic state of the economy and terrifying inflation led to new monetary reform. In 1863, the next line of coins was ordered from the Heaton Mint (Birmingham, England). These were bronze coins in denominations of 5, 10 and 20 centimes.

 

 

On the coins of this issue, the coat of arms of Haiti and the profile of the incumbent president Fabre-Nicolas Geffard appear again.

 

 

The issue of coins in 1863 ended the history of the so-called "First Gourd." The Second Gourde (1870-1872) was the result of another monetary reform, when the exchange rate of new money to old was 10 to 1. During this period, coins were not issued for circulation in Haiti, but only banknotes in denominations of 10 and 25 gourdes were issued.

 

The era of the next, "Third Gourde" began in 1872 with another inflationary reform with an exchange rate of 300 paper gourdes for 1 Spanish dollar. At first, only banknotes were issued under the strict control of the Government. In 1879, General Etienne Salomon came to power in Haiti, having carried out a series of reforms and paid off external debt. After linking the gourde in 1881 to the French franc with a ratio of 5 francs = 1 gourde, the country de facto joins the Latin Monetary Union. In the same year, the first post-reform coins were issued. Instead of the profile of the incumbent president, the obverse of coins of all denominations depicted a woman personifying the "Republic." All denominations, including small bronze coins, are made in the same style and minted at the Paris mint. It is noteworthy that the woman Republic depicted on the obverse is quite European in appearance, despite the fact that the vast majority of Haitians are of the black race.

 

 

Copper coins in denominations of 1 and 2 centimes with a female profile were issued only in the "starting" line. In 1886, these denominations were reissued, but in a different design - instead of the "Republic" they depicted the denomination in large numbers.

 

 

In 1889, a face value of 5 centimes was added to the line of coins, made on a workpiece of copper-nickel alloy, which until then had not been used in coinage for Haiti. The circulation of the coin is small - only 120 thousand copies. Making this denomination from silver was economically inexpedient, since the cost of the spent metal exceeded the face value of the coin. 

 

The next, and last in our review, issue of Haiti coins took place in 1904-1908, two years after President Pierre Nord Alexis came to power in 1902.

 

 

At first, the Paris Mint issued a 5 centime coin in 1904 with an unpretentious design - traditionally a coat of arms and denomination.

 

 

In the same 1904, and later in 1906-1907, a full line was released with denominations from 5 to 50 centimes, but with the profile of the current president. Coins are minted by the Waterbury Mint (Connecticut, USA).

 

 

Trying to cope with inflation, the Government prints banknotes and issues a huge money supply. Money is rapidly depreciating and the country is further aggravated by the financial crisis. In 1912, the gourde was pegged to the US dollar at the rate of 5 gourdes per 1 dollar, but this does not help to cope with inflation (in connection with this rate, later the denomination of 5 gourdes in Haiti began to be called the "Haitian dollar," and the denomination of 5 centimes - "Haitian penny"). Haiti's economy falls into a deep recession, and the issue of coins before 1949 in the country ceases.