20 Colones

The Banco Nacional de Costa Rica was established in 1914 as a state-owned institution, absorbing the functions of several private banks that had issued their own competing currencies in the decades prior. By the early 1940s it held a near-monopoly on Costa Rican note issue, and this series reflects that consolidation — printed under contract with the American Bank Note Company, as was standard for most Central American governments that lacked domestic intaglio capacity.

The date range spans the early war years, during which Costa Rica aligned with the Allies following Pearl Harbor and declared war on the Axis in December 1941. Supply disruptions had minimal impact on ABNC's New York production, and the series ran without known interruption.