1 Real Type I Countermark

Costa Rica's newly independent government lacked the infrastructure for a full coinage operation in the early 1840s, so circulating Spanish colonial and Central American Federation reales were countermarked at the San José mint to legitimize them as national currency. The Type I punch — distinct from the later Type II used after 1845 — was applied to host coins of varying origin and condition, which means the countermark itself is the coin for collection purposes.

Authentication is the central issue with this type. Counterfeit countermarks have circulated almost as long as the genuine ones.