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10 Pesos
| Issuer | República de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1884 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio engraving on white paper with the heading REPÚBLICA DE COSTA RICA across the top, flanked by the numeral 10 at each corner and DIEZ along the vertical borders. The national coat of arms is centrally positioned at the top. Two allegorical female figures appear in oval vignettes at left and right, each in classical seated poses. The central text panel, in elegant script and letterpress, reads Las Administraciones de las Rentas Públicas pagarán al Portador la Suma de DIEZ PESOS en moneda acuñada y corriente de este País, with signature lines below for the Secretario de Hacienda and Administrador Principal. SPECIMEN punch cancellations and overprint are present, with serial number placeholders shown as zeros. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#121a - Issued note with circular black cancellation stamp "Jefatura de Sección del Sello Nacional 26 DIC 89", handsigned P#121b - Punch hole cancelled P#121s - Specimen |
| Comments |
Costa Rica's 1884 issue came during a period when the country had no functioning central bank — the República issued currency directly, with American Bank Note Company producing the plates in New York as it did for dozens of Latin American governments locked out of European printing arrangements or simply preferring ABNC's reliability. The relationship between Costa Rica and ABNC stretched across several decades and denominations, making individual dating within the series genuinely tricky without reference to serial number ranges.
Pick 121 is among the scarcer denominations of the direct-republic issues. The 10 Pesos face value placed it above everyday transactional use in a country where most commerce ran on far smaller figures, which likely suppressed circulation and paradoxically reduced survival rates through destruction rather than wear.