Catalog
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
| Issuer | Banco de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1895 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S152 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green; Costa Rica national coat of arms as central vignette framed by intricate lathe-work guilloche panels, with large numeral 2 repeated on each flank within ornate rosette borders. Bank name BANCO DE COSTA RICA arches above and COSTA RICA below the arms. |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO DE COSTA RICA |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Banco de Costa Rica was a private commercial bank operating under government concession, not a central bank — Costa Rica wouldn't establish a true central bank until 1950. These peso-denominated notes were issued during the country's transitional monetary period before the colón fully displaced the peso, a conversion fixed at 2 pesos to 1 colón under the 1896 monetary reform. This note predates that shift by roughly a year.
American Bank Note Company held a near-monopoly on Latin American currency printing at this period, and the S-prefix in the Pick reference reflects its private bank status — technically an obligation of the institution rather than the state, though in practice the distinction mattered little to users.