1 Real Type I Countermark

Costa Rica gained full independence from the Federal Republic of Central America in 1838, but found itself with no functioning mint and an acute shortage of reliable small change. The solution was to countermark existing Spanish colonial and Central American republican reales — validating foreign silver for domestic circulation rather than striking new coin. The Type I countermark, applied 1841–1842, is distinguished from the later Type II by its horse and castle punch design, though authentication is complicated by the prevalence of contemporary and later forgeries of the countermark itself.