New Money!

El Banco Central de Costa Rica is releasing redesigned banknotes! The new money designs are even more fun and colorful than Costa Rica’s current bills, if you can believe that. The front of the bills feature a person who has made an important contribution to the culture, the economy, education, or politics in Costa Rica. The back of each bill is dedicated to different ecosystems, celebrating the rich biodiversity of Costa Rica.

The dimensions are changing, too – the heights are all the same (67 mm), but each bill will be a different length, from 125 mm to 160 mm. The purpose is to help the blind or visually impaired in determining denominations.

In addition to the redesign, Banco Central is introducing two new currency denominations – a 20,000 colones bill and a 50,000 colones bill. That means six bills in total (USD conversion based on June 16, 2010 exchange rate):

• ₡ 1,000 (US $1.85)
• ₡ 2,000 (US $3.70)
• ₡ 5,000 (US $9.26)
• ₡ 10,000 (US $18.50)
• ₡ 20,000 (US $37.02)
• ₡ 50,000 (US $92.56)

Julio is excited about the higher notes because it opens up the door for bigger tips in the tourism industry. We’ll see… According to La Nacion, the new bills are being released in stages: ₡ 20,000 in early August and the remainder staggered before 2011 (except the ₡ 50,000 which will be released after the receipt of the ₡ 20,000 is assessed).

Banco Central has set up a website that gives a lot of information about the new bills. You can view images and a description of each side in addition to a detailed biography of the person featured on the bill. Here are the images, my favorite is the ₡ 50,000!

1000 Colones, front

1000 Colones, back

2000 Colones, front, design in progress

2000 Colones, back

5000 Colones, front

5000 Colones, back

10000 Colones, front

10000 Colones, back

20000 Colones, front

20000 Colones, back

50000 Colones, front

50000 Colones, back