Costa Rica 1998 colon

from the Mountain Groan Collection

This specimen exemplifies the dreadful state of modern coin design. The drab, low relief design, accentuated by the dull material, failed to inspire any but the most devoted collectors of Central American coins. Neighboring Nicaragua, under the earnest if incompetent Sandinista regime, managed to feature the rebel general Augusto Sandino on its coins of the 1980's. This type was minted in 1998 in Santiago, Chile. Later series of the 1990's added the fifty and hundred colones as inflation eroded the power of the currency.

Recorded mintage: 15,000,000.

Specification: 2.78 g, brass, 15.04 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM 233.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
• Stickney, Brian, A Monetary History of Central America, New York: American Numismatic Society, 2017.

Links to:

• 1994 colon
• 1997 100 colones
• 1999 50 colones
• 1999 100 colones
• Coins and currency dated 1998
• return to Costa Rica