Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. The region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taino people. Spain landed on the island on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic. When Columbus initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or China. The island was named La Espanola and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century.

Haiti has a rich and unique cultural identity, consisting of a melange of traditional customs of French and African, mixed with those from the Spanish and indigenous Taino cultures. Haiti's culture is greatly reflected in its paintings, music, literature and obviously through their currency!

The gourde is the currency of Haiti and it is divided into 100 centimes (French) or santim (Creole). The governments of Haiti issued paper money in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 gourdes. The banknote depicted in the image alongside is 1000 Gourde banknote issued from 1999 to 2009. The note specifications are as follows:

The Obverse: President Florvil Hyppolite to left; Stylized sailing ship in centre; Crawling flies or bugs in the background; Coat of arms of Port-au-Prince (lion lying on a crown, an arrow and a sailing ship).

The Reverse: Marche Valliere (Iron Market) in Port-au-Prince. This violet note has the portrait of President Florvil Hyppolite and reinforced cornerstones as watermark.

Image Courtesy: http://canacopegdl.com/