50 Colones Oro

The Banco de Costa Rica was a private commercial bank operating under government concession, not a central bank — Costa Rica would not establish a central bank until 1950. Notes like this one circulated alongside issues from competing concession banks, a fragmented monetary arrangement common to Central American republics of the period. The oro denomination (gold) was a contractual promise, not a literal description of convertibility that was always honored in practice.

American Bank Note Company's work for Costa Rican private banks in the 1890s is among the more technically accomplished output from their New York shop during that decade. The S-prefix Pick reference confirms private bank status.