Catalog
10 Pesos
| Issuer | República de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1865 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | REPUBLICA DE COSTA RICA DIEZ PESOS 10 Nº 012701 |
| Reverse description | The reverse is arranged with bold corner numerals '10' set within decorative guilloche panels running along the upper and lower borders. The central text panel contains the promise-to-pay legend in Spanish, naming the Administraciones de las Rentas Públicas as obligor, with the date and place of issue inscribed below. A vignette at the right margin depicts a standing male figure with a tool, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. |
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| Comments |
Costa Rica's 1865 peso-denominated notes predate the establishment of a formal central bank by decades — at this point, currency issuance was still a function of the republic itself rather than any chartered banking institution. Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company, already well established as engravers and security printers for colonial and emerging-market governments, produced this note in London to a standard the young republic could not have achieved domestically.
The peso series was eventually displaced by the colón system introduced in 1896, making these early republican issues short-lived by design. Surviving examples from the 1865 date are genuinely scarce — the tropical climate was not kind to cotton-paper notes that saw any real use.