2 Colones

The Banco Nacional de Costa Rica was established in 1914 and reorganized in 1936, just before this series entered circulation — which is why the institution's name on notes from this period still carries a slightly provisional feel. The 1937–1938 issue predates the creation of the Banco Central de Costa Rica by more than a decade; the Nacional held near-central-bank functions during these years, managing currency issuance without a formal central authority to answer to.

Cotton-based paper from this region and period is prone to edge fraying under tropical humidity, and Costa Rican notes of the late 1930s have a documented survival problem precisely because of the climate in which they circulated.