The Aesthetics of Postrevolutionary Haiti: Currency, Kingship, and Circum‐Atlantic Numismatics.

This essay examines the British-made "One Gourde" coin commissioned in 1811 for Henry Christophe, the first king of northern Haiti’s Kingdom of Hayti, as a symbol of Black sovereignty, racial equality, and international recognition following the Haitian Revolution. Produced by British engraver Thomas Wyon Sr, the coin blends European Greco-Roman numismatic traditions with Caribbean and African diasporic conceptions of kingship, reflecting Christophe’s dual strategy of asserting legitimacy both within European diplomatic frameworks and Black Atlantic cultural expressions. The coin’s intricate portrait and heraldic imagery function not only as currency but also as a material assertion of autonomy and human worth in a post-slavery context, while its production and circulation highlight the complexities of early nineteenth-century circum-Atlantic monetary practices. The essay situates Christophe’s coin alongside other numismatic and artistic objects to reveal how postrevolutionary Haitian aesthetics negotiated and redefined imperial iconography through a diasporic lens.