Catalog
2 Colones Silver Certificate
| Issuer | Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905-1906 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | A vignette of Christopher Columbus occupies the left side, with the national coat of arms flanked by flags positioned at right. The face carries the silver certificate text in full, stating the deposited silver backing and redemption terms, along with the issuing date and signatures of the Secretary of Finance and the Principal Administrator. Imprint of the American Bank Note Co., New York appears at lower center. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | REPUBLICA DE COSTA RICA DOS COLONES |
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| Comments |
Costa Rica's early twentieth-century silver certificates were backed by specific coin reserves held by the issuing bank — a guarantee structure more common to U.S. monetary practice than Latin American banking norms of the period, reflecting the considerable North American commercial influence in the country at the time. The ABNC printed this series during a window when Costa Rica was actively trying to stabilize its currency after years of competing private bank issues had badly fragmented confidence in paper money.
Pick 145 is among the scarcer low-denomination issues from this printer-issuer relationship. Small-denomination certificates of this type circulated hard and were rarely preserved.