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1/2 Real Type I Countermark
| Issuer | Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1841-1842 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1 mm |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Obverse displays the Costa Rican Type I countermark applied to the host coin: a circular incuse punch containing a six-pointed star (Star of David) set within a radiating sunburst design, all enclosed within a raised circular border. The host coin, a cut and holed segment of a Mexican silver real minted at the Casa de Moneda de México, retains partial original device elements in the field. A round hole has been cut off-center toward the right, characteristic of the emergency issue preparation. The surface shows significant wear and adjustment marks consistent with circulation use. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
In 1841–42, Costa Rica lacked the infrastructure to strike its own coinage at scale, so colonial-era Spanish and Spanish-American reales — already circulating widely — were simply countermarked and reissued as national currency. The Type I punch, applied at San José, was the new republic's first assertion of monetary authority over coins it neither designed nor minted.
Host coins vary considerably, and the countermark is frequently found on heavily worn planchets. The underlying coin's origin can sometimes be traced to mints as far as Lima or Potosí.