25 Céntimos Large size

Costa Rica's aluminum coinage of this period was a direct response to chronic metal shortages and peso devaluation pressures that plagued Central American economies through the late 1970s and into the 1980s. The shift to aluminum dramatically reduced production costs at a moment when the colón was losing ground rapidly against the dollar. KM#188.1b distinguishes the large-diameter version from the reduced-size successor that followed within years as inflation continued eroding the coin's practical value — the size reduction being the mint's tacit acknowledgment that the denomination had become nearly worthless in daily commerce.