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The colón, named for Christopher Columbus,
is Costa Rica's official currency. One of the most
stable currencies in Latin America, the colón has
recently been somewhat shaky because of devaluations.
Fortunately, the devaluations are relatively small
when compared to the mega-devaluations and run away
inflation rampant in other Latin American countries.
Since your main source of income will probably be in
dollars, you should not worry too much about devaluations
unless you have large amounts of money in colones,
which is not advisable for long-term investments. Devaluations
can be good because they increase your purchasing power
until prices catch up.
Coins come in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 25, 50,100
and 500 colones. Bills come in 1000 (called rojos in
slang), 2,000, 5000 (called tucanes in slang)
and 10,000 (called pumas in slang) colón denominations.
The rate of exchange, which is set by the Central Bank,
was around 520 colones to the dollar as of October
2006. The older, silver-colored 5, 10 and 20 colón coins
are the only ones you can use in coin-operated public
pay phones.
You can exchange money at most banks between 9 a.m. and 4
p.m., Monday through Friday. Some banks are now open even
later, and some are open Saturday mornings as well. Remember
to bring only U.S. currency, since other monies are difficult
and expensive to exchange. When you exchange money at a bank,
do so early in the morning because lines can be long later
in the day and you may have to wait for what seems like an
eternity. You should always carry your passport, a certified
copy of your passport or pensionado or resident I.D.
when exchanging money or for other banking transactions.
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Rican Coins |
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5
Colones (Silver) |
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10
Colones (Silver) |
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20
Colones (Silver) |
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25
Colones (Gold) |
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100
Colones (Gold) |
Banks, businesses and most money changers do not accept
damaged or torn foreign currency. There is really no
need to worry about changing money since a large number
of businesses in Costa Rica will accept U.S. dollars.
However, some may be reluctant to accept $50 or $100
bills.
Money can also be changed on the street, where you
get the same rate of exchange as in the banks. We advise
against this because many slick change artists distribute
counterfeit bills or attempt to shortchange you.
To see the actual rate of exchange or convert currency,
go to
http:// www.xe.com/.
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