2 Colones

The 1948 date places this coin squarely in the year of Costa Rica's civil war — a 44-day conflict that ended with José Figueres Ferrer's junta abolishing the military entirely. The Banco Nacional, which had held sole note-issuing authority since 1936, continued coin production through the transition without interruption. The new government's decision to disband the armed forces redirected military expenditure toward education and health, a fiscal restructuring that had no immediate effect on coinage but would eventually lead to the Banco Central's establishment in 1950 and the Banco Nacional's loss of its monetary issuing role.