Temporary exhibition gallery (anterior)
Current Exhibition
150th Anniversary of the 1857-1858 National Campaign and its Influence on Costa Rican Numismatics
War vouchers handed out during the 1856-1857 National Campaign, medallions used to reward war veterans, and coins and bills issued during and after that important national event are part of what you’ll be able to see in the Central Bank Museums.
These valuable objects are on display in the exhibit entitled 150th Anniversary of the 1856-1857 National Campaign and its Influence on Costa Rican Numismatics in the Numismatic Museum’s Temporary Exhibition Gallery.
"The purpose of this exhibition is to address the topic from a different perspective, showing the public all those numismatic objects that even today remind us of that heroic event,” explains Manuel Chacón, the Central Bank Museums’ Numismatics Curator and curator of this display.
The exhibition gives an overview of the historical events occurring during the war and offers supplementary information on daily life during that era. From an educational perspective, one can learn about the participation of women, the diseases affecting the country’s inhabitants during those years, the uniforms the Costa Rican army used and their weapons, among other things.
“Exceptionally valuable objects are on display, such as the bill issued by the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica in 1858, printed with a picture of the president at time, Juan Rafael Mora, or a bill signed by William Walker’s very same hand,” Chacón comments.
Historical Route
Visitors come into contact along their tour with different objects of the era and can learn a little more about the main routes and cities that were highly relevant to the campaign, reinforcing their knowledge of how Costa Rican identity has been built as of this era.
A special spot in the exhibition is given to the explanation of the significance of the National Monument, inaugurated on September 15, 1895 in the National Park, whose significance is not well known by Costa Ricans.
Currently Being Set Up
Coins and Bills of Ecuador and Costa Rica in the Nineteenth Century: What Links us Together
This new international exhibit at the Museums of the Central Bank lets visitors appreciate the surprising similarities between nineteenth century Costa Rican and Ecuadorian bills and coins.
“It is not by chance that our countries have similar coins and bills. The phenomenon is due to a series of historical circumstances shared not only by Ecuador and Costa Rica, but also Latin America,” explains Manuel Chacón, co-curator of the exhibit.
The exhibit is a joint project of the Museums of the Central Bank of Costa Rica and the Numismatic Museum of Quito.
On display are coins and bills of great historical value for both countries, such as – in the case of Ecuador – the famous Quito ounce immortalized in the famous literary work Moby Dick, and the Series A 2 peso bill of the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica that was also used in the city of Guayaquil in 1871.
Close to 80 pieces make up part of the exhibit, and a timeline to guide the visitor along the way has been added to make it easier to understand the historical events linking the two countries.
“This exhibit also clearly shows the fundamental role the Central Banks have played in protecting and disseminating the different countries’ cultural heritage in general,” Chacón adds.
Carlos Iza, numismatics curator at the Numismatic Museum of Quito, and Manuel Chacón of the Museums of the Central Bank of Costa Rica are the exhibit’s curators. Iza set about studying the Costa Rican collection, while Chacón did the same with the Ecuadorian pieces.