The Philatelic Numismatic Museum Costa Rica

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The Philatelic Numismatic Museum Costa Rica (Museo Filatélico Numismático) was opened in 1990 under the name of Jaime Solera Bennett, who was noted for his work in businesses and as the President of the Central Bank of Costa Rica. The interest in numismatics of Solera Bennett led him to the development of the collections of the Central Bank and, personally, to form one of the best collections of bills in Costa Rica, which was donated by his family to this museum in 1997. The museum belongs to one of the museums of the Central Bank, which maintains a large collection of stamps, the history of the telegraph and mail, among other things. The museum is located on the second floor of the Costa Rica’s Post Office central Building in San José.

The currency history in Costa Rica, from the “Real” to the “Colón”, is the new permanent exhibit at the Jaime Solera Bennett Numismatics Museum. This exhibit shows the evolution of the various means of exchange since 1502 until today, in a very dynamic way. The tour explains about money and its use, and portrays a very interesting history of the country’s currency as the use of barter, the use of metallic coins which had its beginnings in the colonial period, the use of foreign coins and coffee and banana tickets, the issue of banknotes of different banks until the Central Bank consolidation, the symbolism shown in coins and bills, among other interesting topics. The most beautiful and valuable coins, bills, dies and coffee and bananas tickets from the Central Bank’s collection are displayed in this exhibition.

The Museum also offers an interactive area for promoting the collection of bills and coins and a video called “Paper and Silver Passions”. The numismatic collection began in the 1950s and has about 5000 objects. The first numismatic exhibition took place at the Costa Rica Central Bank in 1971, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Independence of Costa Rica.

Address: in Costa Rica’s Post Office main building, on 5th street, between 1st and 3rd avenues, district: Merced, canton: San José, province: San José, Costa Rica. Zone postal code: 10102.
GPS Coordinates: 9.934947,-84.079842 (9°56’5.81″N, 84°04’47.43″W)
Schedule: opened everyday from 9:15am to 5pm.
Website: www.museodelbancocentral.org
Phone: + (506) 2243-4202

Address map: Click here to view directions from Central Park, San Jose, Costa Rica TO the Philatelic Numismatic Museum in San Jose, Costa Rica at Google Maps