1 Peso

The Ferro Carril de Costa Rica — the Costa Rican Railway — issued this note as a private scrip during the construction phase of the country's first major rail project, when hard currency was chronically scarce and large contractors needed a practical medium for payroll and local commerce. Railway companies issuing their own paper was not unusual in Latin America during this period, but Costa Rica's rail history has a particular wrench in it: the line struggled financially for decades before Minor Keith effectively took control of the enterprise in exchange for debt, a process that eventually fed into the formation of the United Fruit Company.

The American Bank Note Company's involvement is the strongest indicator of intended legitimacy — ABNC printing was a deliberate signal to a skeptical public that the paper was professionally produced and not easily counterfeited.