Colones

The Costa Rican colón (CRC) has been the official currency of Costa Rica since 1896, when it replaced the peso at a one-to-one exchange ratio. Named after Christopher Columbus, known as Cristóbal Colón in Spanish, the currency’s symbol is ₡. The colón is divided into 100 centimos, and its plural form is colones. The banknotes show the animals of the country and on the ten thousand colones bill you can find the iconic sloth.

Currently, coins in circulation include denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 colones, while banknotes are available in 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 colón denominations. Interestingly, U.S. dollars are widely accepted throughout Costa Rica, especially in tourist areas, though the colón remains the preferred currency for most local transactions. Payments via credit card are also easily possible.

Colones
Costa Rica