Why are Costa Rica's banknotes different sizes?

Accessibility. Spanish Wikipedia's history of the colón states it plainly: the notes share one height but differ in width to help people who are blind or have impaired vision. Slide a note between finger and thumb, compare it with the one beside it, and the denomination is in your hand before you look.

That was a deliberate break with the past. Before the 2011 to 2012 reform, Costa Rican notes all measured about 156 by 66 mm. The new family gave every denomination its own colour and size, added the 20,000 and 50,000 colones, and put one of the country's six ecosystems on the back of each note. Here is the ladder, from English Wikipedia's table of the series:

By our arithmetic the steps are exactly 7 mm, so the 50,000 is 35 mm wider than the 1,000. Our banknote sizes chart compares note sizes around the world, including countries that use one size for every denomination.

Who is on the Costa Rica 1,000 colones note?

Braulio Carrillo Colina, twice head of state of Costa Rica, from 1835 to 1837 and from 1838 to 1842. Born in Cartago on 20 March 1800, he died in La Sociedad, El Salvador, on 15 May 1845. The front also shows the coat of arms of 1840 to 1842, from his own time in office. Spanish Wikipedia notes that the portraits on the series are of beneméritos de la patria, the country's formally honoured citizens.

There is a neat link between the man and the paper. In 1839, as head of state, Carrillo authorized the issue of thirty thousand pesos in vales of 5 and 10 pesos to make it easier to pay public employees. It makes him a fitting face for a banknote.

Costa Ricans have their own name for the note. According to Spanish Wikipedia, the 1,000 colones is called un rojo, the red one.

What is on the back of the 1,000 colones note?

The dry forest, bosque seco. The lettering names each element: a Guanacaste tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), a white-tailed deer (venado cola blanca) and a pitahaya cactus (Hylocereus costaricensis), as Numista's catalogue records. English Wikipedia describes the cactus as the Costa Rican nightblooming cactus.

The smallest note carries the dry forest: a broad Guanacaste tree, a deer and a cactus that blooms at night.

Wildlife on money is a theme with a long reach. Our guide to animals on banknotes places Costa Rica's series alongside South Africa's Big Five and Canada's birds.

Paper or polymer: which 1,000 colones do you have?

The design has run through more than one substrate and series. Our Costa Rica guide records the 1,000 colones as the country's first polymer note, in 2011, and the whole family completed its switch to polymer on 15 October 2021. English Wikipedia adds that the 2020 to 2021 polymer series kept the 2011 themes with slightly redesigned motifs. Spanish Wikipedia lists the current family's 1,000 as Series C and names Oberthur Technologies of Rennes, France, as the printer of the ecosystem series.

The series letter alone can mislead you. Numista catalogues an older 1,000 colones that is also labelled Series B, but it is a different note entirely: Tomás Soley Güell on the front and the National Insurance Institute, from the era when every Costa Rican note was about 156 mm long. Read the letter together with the date and the design.

What should you check when buying a 1,000 colones note?

1. Measure it. The ecosystem-series 1,000 is 125 by 67 mm. A 1,000 colones note around 156 mm long belongs to the older family.
2. Match the design to the date. Braulio Carrillo and the dry forest mean the 2011 family or its successors; Tomás Soley Güell means the older type.
3. Note the series letter and date together. Our set is dated 2013, Series B, from the ecosystem family.
4. Check the run. In a consecutive set, serial numbers should follow without gaps, and every note should match in colour and centering.

Planet Banknote has the 2013 Series B 1,000 colones as a set of ten consecutive uncirculated notes: a compact way to hold the note that starts Costa Rica's size ladder.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are Costa Rican banknotes different sizes?

To help blind and visually impaired people tell them apart. Since the 2011 to 2012 reform, every Costa Rican note is 67 mm tall, and each denomination is 7 mm wider than the one below it, from 125 mm for the 1,000 colones to 160 mm for the 50,000.

Who is on the Costa Rica 1,000 colones note?

Braulio Carrillo Colina (1800 to 1845), head of state of Costa Rica from 1835 to 1837 and from 1838 to 1842. In 1839 he authorized an issue of paper vales of 5 and 10 pesos to pay public employees.

What animal is on the 1,000 colones note?

A white-tailed deer, shown in a dry forest scene with a Guanacaste tree and a pitahaya cactus. Each note in the series shows a different Costa Rican ecosystem, and the 1,000 colones has the dry forest.

Why is the 1,000 colones called un rojo?

Because it is red. Spanish Wikipedia records that Costa Ricans call the 1,000 colones note un rojo, the red one, after its main colour.

Are Costa Rican banknotes made of polymer?

The current notes are. The 1,000 colones was Costa Rica's first polymer note in 2011, and the whole family completed its switch to polymer on 15 October 2021, keeping the ecosystem themes of the 2011 series.

What ecosystems are on Costa Rican banknotes?

Six: dry forest on the 1,000 colones, coral reef on the 2,000, mangrove swamp on the 5,000, rainforest on the 10,000, páramo on the 20,000 and cloud forest on the 50,000.