Catalog
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| Issuer | Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1849-1857 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Reeded |
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| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Costa Rica lacked its own mint until 1864, forcing the young republic to rely on countermarked foreign silver to create a functioning currency. The Type VII punch — applied at the Casa de Moneda in San José — was used to authenticate and nationalize Spanish colonial 2 Reales that had circulated throughout Central America, legitimizing coins struck decades earlier in Mexico City, Lima, or Guatemala under entirely different political authority.
The countermarking program was notoriously inconsistent, and multiple punch varieties exist within the Type VII classification alone.