The gourde (French: [ɡuʁd]) or goud (Haitian Creole: [ɡud]) is the currency of Haiti.
The word "gourde" is a French cognate for the Spanish term "gordo", from the "pesos gordos" (also known in English as "hard" pieces of eight, and in French as "piastres fortes espagnoles") in which colonial-era contracts within the Spanish sphere of influence were often denominated.
The Haitian government attempted to make money by declaring a much higher value to their coins than the intrinsic value of the metal.
Coins currently in circulation are: In 1875,[citation needed] banknotes were issued by the National Bank of Haiti in denominations of 25c, 1 and 5 piastres (equal to the gourde).
In 1979, the Bank of the Republic of Haiti replaced the BNRH as the paper money issuing body.
A G 20 note was released into circulation in 2001, both as a commemorative (to celebrate the bicentennial of the Constitution of Toussaint L'Ouverture) and as a regular issue.