If you plan on traveling around Costa Rica you should be familiar with the money used here- and there's a LOT of it. Check out this video to clear things up.
Currency in Costa Rica is called the 'Colon'. It was named after Christopher Columbus, and was introduced as the official currency in 1896, replacing the money used in Costa Rica before (the peso). The correct plural pronunciation is Colones. The colon comes in bills denominated in the following amounts: 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, and 1,000 colones. The coins are denominated in 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, and 5 colones. Recently, the central bank has printed gold coins in all the same denominations mentioned above, however, several of them are smaller than those presently in circulation, and therefore, do not work in any of the public machines, i.e. telephones, etc.
In Costa Rica, monetary units are very close to the countrys history and cultural facts, for example, bills have a different picture of an important character throughout Costa Ricas history: • 1000 colones bill honors Tomas Soley, an important politician once minister of commerce in Costa Rica. • 5000 colones bill commemorates Costa Ricas ecological resources by an impressive picture of a Tucan in its natural environment • 10 000 colones bill portraits Emma Gamboa an important teacher of Costa Rica.
Some of the currencies of Costa Rica have slang nicknames every Tico uses to refer to them: • Tejas is 100-colones • Cinco tejas for 500 colónes • Un Rojo is 1,000 colones • Un Tucan is 5,000 colones
In Costa Rica, exchanges rates change daily. Please make sure you are aware of the current exchange rate if you decide to use dollars in your transactions while in Costa Rica, that way you can avoid getting a fake rate and lose your money.
Do not exchange your U.S. money for Costa Rican currency in the U.S. before leaving. The U.S. dollar can easily be exchanged here at a better rate. Currency from other countries can only be exchanged at the central bank in San José, and is a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong process.
For more helpful travel information on Costa Rica make sure you check out our website and our blog.
Our Travel Tip Website- http://www.TravelCostaRicaNow.com
michael alan's blog - http://www.DoingCostaRica.blogspot.com/
Our pictures from around Costa Rica - http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelcostaricanow_com/
Our Gay Travel Tip Webpage - http://travelcostaricanow.com/index.php/Gay
michael alan's gay blog - http://www.DoinGayCostaRica.blogspot.com
Lots more travel tips on video by us - http://www.youtube.com/user/iCostaRica24
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Thank you. I am coming with a friend soon, and I am scared to carry cash. Should I deposit to a bank in CR when I arrive ? Obviously, I don't want to carry it all around on my person. Can you give me some input please ?
johnrn94 4 months ago
@johnrn94 You could just use ATM's if you want. Try to take out as much as you can, since their are fees. Are you scared because you think you'll be robbed or you're just scared of losing your money? The likelihood of being robbed is very minimal. Keep the money in a 'safe' at the hotel,,,most have some sort of security box or a manager that can keep it....and just carry what you'll need for the days activities.... And watch as much of our stuff as you can....lot's of INFO. have fun
iCostaRica24 4 months ago
WOW WISH I HAD SEEN THIS BEFORE I WENT--- MIGHT OF SAVED SOME MONEY IN THE BEATLE ---- I THINK THOSE GUYS ARE CHARGING WAY TOO MUCH FOR THOSE IMPERIALS LOL
binotgrigio 5 months ago
@binotgrigio hahah...when we first got here 6 years ago...Imperials were like 700 colones...or $1.25 Now they're closer to 3 bucks.....
iCostaRica24 5 months ago
nice video. Thanks...
session036 1 year ago
@session036 no problem, you're welcome.
iCostaRica24 1 year ago