A 160 años de la fundación de la Republica de Costa Rica: sus primeras monedas de oro (1850-1864)

Abstract

On August 30th, 1848, Dr. Castro Madriz (last Chief of State and first President), issued the decree by which Costa Rica left the Central American Federation and became a Republic. Between 1850 and 1864 the gold coins of the Republic of Costa Rica, with face values of 1⁄2, 1, 2 and 4 escudos, had the Coat of Arms engraved on the obverse and a standing indian woman on the reverse. In this paper I describe: the details of the figure of the standing indian, and of similar figures in other coins, the number of coins minted and their abundance today, and also the presentation of gold coins as a reward to the soldiers of the National Campaign against the filibusters (1856-57). I also include information on the gold mines of the Aguacate mountains, the miners who extracted the mineral, the methods used to test the gold content of coins, and the assayers of the San José Mint in the mid XIX century.