Catalog
100 Colones
| Issuer | Banco Mercantil de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1910 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central oval portrait vignette of a classical female figure wearing a laurel wreath, set within a green guilloche frame, flanked by two numeral 100 counters within ornate multicolor rosettes in green and pink. The legend BANCO arches above the central vignette and MERCANTIL DE COSTA RICA is inscribed along the lower portion. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO MERCANTIL DE COSTA RICA 100 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK |
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| Comments |
The Banco Mercantil de Costa Rica was a private commercial bank operating under Costa Rica's free banking period, when multiple institutions held concessions to issue their own currency. The 100 Colones denomination was the highest in circulation — a substantial sum in 1910 Costa Rica — meaning most examples that survived did so without ever passing through many hands.
American Bank Note Company produced the plates in New York, as they did for the majority of Central American private bank issues of this period. The ABNC's contract work for Costa Rican issuers was extensive enough that several plate designs were shared or adapted across different client banks.
P#S205 places this squarely in the "S" — unissued or private bank — classification, which often signals low survival rates rather than low issue volumes.