1000 Colones 150 Años de Independencia

Issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Central American independence from Spain — declared 15 September 1821 — this commemorative 1000 Colones was the highest denomination Costa Rica had circulated to that point. The American Bank Note Company produced the series, as it had done for Costa Rican currency for decades, working from the long-standing relationship between ABNC and several Latin American central banks.

The unusually large sheet dimensions reflect a deliberate departure from Costa Rica's previous note formats, giving the design room that standard issues never had. Pick 246 is genuinely scarce in circulated grades — high-denomination commemoratives were frequently held rather than spent, but storage conditions in tropical climates mean truly clean survivors are not as common as hoarding patterns might suggest.