Catalog
5 Pesos
| Issuer | Banco de Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Pesos |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | 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 is dominated by the bank title "BANCO DE COSTA RICA" set centrally within a decorative guilloche surround, with the denomination numeral 5 appearing on each side. The printer's imprint is rendered in fine lettering along the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | 5 BANCO DE COSTA RICA 5 (Translation: 5 Bank of Costa Rica 5) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Banco de Costa Rica was a private commercial bank operating under government concession — not a central bank — and in 1899 it held the right to issue circulating currency alongside a handful of other privileged institutions. That arrangement ended with the founding of the Banco Internacional de Costa Rica in 1914, which progressively absorbed note-issuing authority. These earlier private bank emissions were eventually called in and destroyed in bulk, making survivors from the 1899 series genuinely uncommon.
The American Bank Note Company produced the plates, as it did for the majority of Latin American issuers of this period who wanted intaglio-printed notes difficult to counterfeit locally.