5 Pesos

Banco Herediano was one of several private banks chartered in Costa Rica during the free banking period of the 1860s–1880s, when no central bank existed and individual commercial institutions issued their own circulating notes. The Herediano took its name from Heredia province, and its notes competed directly in circulation against those of Banco de Costa Rica, Banco de la Unión, and others — a crowded field for a small economy.

ABNC's work for Latin American private banks during this period typically involved printing the date fields incomplete, with the year partially filled — here "188_" — leaving the final digit to be entered by bank staff at issue. The underscore is not damage; it is the original format.