Costa Rican peso Costa Rican peso The peso was the currency of Costa Rica between 1850 and 1896. It was initially subdivided into 8 "reales" and circulated alongside the earlier currency, the real, until 1864, when Costa Rica decimalized and the peso was subdivided into 100 "centavos". The peso was replaced by the colón at par in 1896 In 1850, silver coins were issued in denominations of , ⅛ and ¼ peso. In 1864, silver coins were introduced in denominations of 25 centavos and 1 peso. These were followed the next year by cupro-nickel ¼ and 1 centavos and silver 5, 10 and
Portuguese Timorese escudo banknotes, below) may have been due to the exchange rate from the previous currency. The 10 and 30 centavos were struck in bronze, the 60 centavos and 1 escudo in cupro-nickel, and the 3 and 6 escudos in silver. In 1964, a silver 10 escudos was introduced, followed, in 1970, by more conventional denominations of 20 and 50 centavos, 1, 2½, 5 and 10 escudos. The 20 and 50 centavos and 1 escudo were struck in bronze, with the higher denominations struck in cupro-nickel. The first banknotes, dated 1959, were in denominations of 30, 60, 100 and 500 escudos. In