Catalog
10 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco Nacional de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1858 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a farmer plowing a field with two horses, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. To the left, an oval portrait medallion of a man in formal attire; to the right, an oval portrait of a woman. The denomination numeral '10' appears in guilloche-bordered panels at both left and right, with the bank title 'BANCO NACIONAL' arching across the upper centre and 'DE COSTA RICA' below to the right. A coat of arms vignette occupies the lower right corner, with manuscript date and serial number fields along the lower portion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO NACIONAL DE COSTA RICA DIEZ PESOS SAN JOSE 10 CENTRO AMERICA Pagará al portador a la presentación |
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| Comments |
The Banco Nacional de Costa Rica had a short and complicated existence — it was the country's first bank of issue, founded in 1858, and this note dates from that inaugural year. The American Bank Note Company's involvement reflects the near-universal practice among newly independent Latin American states of contracting New York or London engravers, since no domestic printing infrastructure capable of producing secure currency existed anywhere in Central America at the time.
The bank itself collapsed in 1867 after a series of liquidity crises tied to volatile coffee export revenues. Notes from the 1858 series survived in small numbers, most presumably never redeemed.