1 Colón Silver Certificate

Costa Rica's late-19th and early-20th century currency was a fractured affair — multiple private banks held concurrent issuing rights, and the government's own paper circulated alongside theirs with uneven public confidence. This note predates the 1914 consolidation under the Banco Internacional, placing it in a period when the colón was still finding its footing as the national monetary unit, having only replaced the peso in 1896.

The "Silver Certificate" designation is meaningful: redemption in silver was the guarantee that gave these notes credibility in circulation. American Bank Note Company's New York shop handled the production, as it did for a large portion of Latin American government paper of this period.