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20 Colones
| Issuer | Banco Mercantil de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1910 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | American Bank Note Company |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCO MERCANTIL DE COSTA RICA SERIE A EL BANCO MERCANTIL DE COSTA RICA PAGARA AL PORTADOR A LA VISTA LA CANTIDAD DE VEINTE COLONES EN MONEDA ACUNADA DE ORO SPECIMEN |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | BANCO MERCANTIL DE COSTA RICA American Bank Note Co. N.Y. |
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| Comments |
The Banco Mercantil de Costa Rica was a private commercial bank operating under Costa Rica's free banking regime, which allowed chartered institutions to issue their own circulating currency well into the early twentieth century. The central bank monopoly on note issue didn't come until 1950, meaning notes like this one were legitimate tender issued by a competing private institution — not a government emergency measure or a scrip substitute.
American Bank Note Company produced the plates in New York, as they did for the majority of Latin American private and state bank issues of this period. The Mercantil series is considerably scarcer than contemporary issues from the Banco de Costa Rica, which had deeper reserves and longer circulation runs.