Owner: Banco Central de Costa Rica
PROJECT TEAM:
Printer: Oberthur Fiduciaire
Substrate: Guardian™ by CCL Secure
Inks: SPARK® Live and other security inks by SICPA
Foil Stripe: KINEGRAM REVIEW® by KURZ
These banknotes are much more than a means of payment; they are works of art that are worth enjoying and getting to know, both for the characters to whom they pay homage and for highlighting the ecological wealth that places Costa Rica on the world map as a beautiful country for its landscapes, and in which nature is an essential part of its identity.
This new series of banknotes illustrates part of our biodiversity through emblematic Costa Rican landscapes. It also pays tribute to outstanding women and men in the country’s culture, science, education and politics.
Thus, because of the technology used to make them, the beautiful designs that decorate them and the tributes they pay, they are practical documents of great value and go beyond the amount they strictly represent; for this reason, it is worth learning to take care of them and to know the information that each one of them provides.
Printed on polymer, the series allows the Central Bank to continue its efforts to reduce the environmental impact of waste through a recycling program.
The banknotes portray five distinguished national heroes: Braulio Carrillo Molina, on the ₡1,000; Mauro Fernández Acuña, on the ₡2,000; Alfredo González Flores, on the ₡5,000; José Figueres Ferrer, on the ₡10,000; and María Isabel Carvajal (Carmen Lyra) on the ₡20,000.
Likewise, our ecosystems and native species such as the coral reef, the mangrove, the rainforest, the Guanacaste tree, the white-tailed deer and the three-toed sloth bear are some of our highlights.
All the new family of Costa Rica banknotes are printed on GUARDIAN polymer substrate. The have a common design architecture but feature different security features on the low and high denominations.
All designs feature a large complex main window and a smaller secondary window. The small secondary window is overprinted with SPARK to create a different visual appearance on the obverse and reverse of the note.
For the low denominations (1000, 2000 and 5000) the large complex window feature a printed Cameo of the main character of the banknote in combination with a novel combination of G-Switch and Metallic effect inks.
The high denominations (10000 and 20000) also feature a printed Cameo image of the main character but this time in combination with a foil stripe.
