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100 Colones
| Issuer | Banco Mercantil de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1910 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Colón (1896-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central oval vignette of an eagle with spread wings perched on a rock, flanked by two large numeral 100 counters set within elaborate green and pink guilloche rosettes. The bank title BANCO MERCANTIL DE COSTA RICA arches across the top, with the denomination LA CANTIDAD DE CIEN COLONES EN MONEDA ACUÑADA DE ORO inscribed below the vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Variants | P#S205a - Issued note P#S205s - Specimen |
| 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.