National Coin Museum, Costa Rica

Along with the Gold Museum, the Museo Numismático (National Coin Museum) is one of two well-known museums housed within the Central Bank Museums of Costa Rica. It showcases a number of interesting and beautiful items related to vital components of Costa Rican culture dating back to 1236. There are numerous exhibitions, but possibly the most popular is the exhibit on the history of Costa Rica’s currency. It includes exquisite examples of Costa Rican currency stretching back to the year 1502. This exhibit also features an explanation about each type of currency and how each one was used throughout Costa Rica. With thousands of artifacts, including coins used around the Conquest and Colonial periods, there is both beauty and wonder in the collections. For collectors, there are silver reals, onzas, escudos, gold, silver centavos, pesos, gold escudos and on display. © Flickr/emivel2003