Catalog
5 Colones
| Issuer | Banco Internacional de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
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| Reference(s) | P#168 |
| Obverse description | Central vignette of a young man in a suit set within an oval intaglio portrait, flanked on either side by the numeral 5 against a delicate guilloche underprint in warm tones. The bank title BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE COSTA RICA runs across the top in bold letterpress, with the bearer clause EL BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE COSTA RICA PAGARÁ AL PORTADOR LA CANTIDAD DE arching above. The denomination CINCO COLONES appears in a panel at the base, with the imprint of the American Bank Note Company below, and spaces for serial number, date, and official signatures at lower left and right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | BANCO INTERNACIONAL DE COSTA RICA AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY |
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| Comments |
The Banco Internacional de Costa Rica was established in 1914 as a state-owned institution, absorbing functions previously scattered across private banks — this 1916 note comes from the earliest years of that consolidation, when the bank was still building credibility with a skeptical commercial class. The American Bank Note Company had been producing Costa Rican currency since the nineteenth century, giving this series a visual continuity with earlier private-bank issues that was almost certainly intentional policy.
Pick 168 is genuinely scarce in any grade, likely because wartime shipping disruptions affected delivery schedules and actual quantities released into circulation remain poorly documented.