Catalog
20 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Pesos |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse centres a classical allegorical female vignette flanked by the denomination numeral 20 on either side within ornamental panels. The bank title "BANCO DE COSTA RICA" is inscribed across the upper register, and the American Bank Note Company, New York, imprint appears in fine letterpress at the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | 20 BANCO DE COSTA RICA 20 (Translation: 20 Bank of Costa Rica 20) |
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| 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. The American Bank Note Company handled the bulk of Latin American private bank note production in this period, and their work for Costa Rica in the 1890s followed that same commercial model: plates contracted, printed in New York, shipped south for signature and issue.
The S-prefix in the Pick reference (S165) places this firmly in the Specialized catalogue for private and provincial issues, a reminder that formal national currency unification in Central America came late.