20 000 Colones

The 20,000 colón denomination was introduced by the Banco Central as part of a broader effort to reduce transaction friction during a period when inflation had eroded the purchasing power of lower denominations to the point that even routine commercial transactions required unwieldy stacks of notes. Oberthur Fiduciaire handled the production, a French security printer with deep experience in Latin American contracts.

For a high-value note in this series, the security specification is notably sparse — watermark only, with none of the thread or color-shifting elements common to contemporaneous issues from neighboring central banks. The polymer transition that Costa Rica undertook for smaller denominations did not extend here.