10 Colones

The Banco Internacional de Costa Rica occupied an unusual dual role in the late 1920s — simultaneously functioning as the country's commercial bank and its de facto central bank, with the attached Caja de Conversión responsible for maintaining gold convertibility of the colón. That arrangement was already under strain by 1929; the Depression-era collapse of coffee export revenues shortly forced Costa Rica off the gold standard entirely, and the Banco Internacional itself was dissolved in 1936 when the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica absorbed its functions.

Thomas De La Rue printed the P#189 series in London. The "B" suffix distinguishes a signature combination variant rather than a distinct issue — the Secretary of the Treasury pairing being the more difficult one to attribute precisely given the illegible countersignature.