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8 Gourdes
| Issuer | République d'Haïti |
|---|---|
| Year | 1827 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 8 Gourdes |
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| Obverse description | Plain typeset note with the heading REPUBLIQUE D'HAÏTI centered at top, flanked by the republican motto LIBERTÉ and ÉGALITÉ. A central diamond-shaped frame encloses the denomination figures 400 at each lateral point and a handwritten serial number above, with the denomination HUIT GOURDES printed vertically along both side margins. Below the diamond, a text panel carries the legal tender clause referencing the law of 16 April 1827 and the guarantee of the Trésor public, with space for the manuscript signature of Le Membre Signataire. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ REPUBLIQUE D'HAÏTI 400 HUIT GOURDES Le présent billet circulera dans la République pour la valeur de HUIT GOURDES, et le Trésor public en garantit la valeur en papier, en vertu de la loi du 16 Avril 1827. Le Membre Signataire |
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| Comments |
Haiti's 1827 8 Gourdes note is an unusual denomination by any measure — powers of two don't appear in most currency systems, and the 8 Gourdes figure reflects the old Spanish colonial arithmetic still embedded in Haitian monetary practice, where the peso de ocho, the piece of eight, cast a long shadow over post-independence accounting.
The Republic was only 23 years old when this was issued, its finances already strained by the indemnity payments to France that began in 1825 — 150 million francs extracted as the price of diplomatic recognition, a debt that crippled Haitian public finances for generations and made sound paper currency almost impossible to sustain.