Costa Rica’s currency ‘¢’ is called Colon or colones for plural, and Costa Rica currency to USD is something most travelers will want to know. When visiting the country there is no need to exchange US dollars to colones since they are taken at the majority of stores and restaurants. The only recommendation we can provide is to avoid bringing high currency bills like $100 USD bills or $50 USD bills, since many locations don’t accept them or simply don’t have change for them. You might have to get used to getting change in Costa Rican Colons when changing Costa Rica currency to USD.

$1 is equivalent to 500 CRC

This may vary from time to time, but it’s usually in the same range.

Colones are presented in different ways, bills are the following:

¢50.000 is equal to $100 USD

This bill is violet and represents the cloud forest, it has images of a parasol mushroom, a bromelia flower, the morpho butterfly. It also has an image of Ricardo Jimenez Oreamuno which created “La Corte Tribunal de Justicia”

¢20.000 is equal to $40 USD

This bill is orange and represents a moor, it has images of a humming bird, a rabbit and a wolf together, coffee plants and a Senecio oerstedianus. It has the image of Maria Isabel Carvajal who created the legendary book of “los cuentos de mi tía Panchita”

¢10.000 is equal to $20 USD

This bill is green which represent the rainy rainforest and has images of birds, a sloth, an orchid flower, and an image of José Figueres Ferrer who abolished the army.

¢5.000 is equal to $10 USD

This bill is yellow and represents the mangrove swamp and has images of a crab, red mangrove, and a white faced monkey. It also has the image of Alfredo Gonzalez Flores which created the International Bank.

¢2.000 is equal to $4 USD

This is a blue bill that represents the coral reefs and contain images of the bull shark, a starfish, turtles, and seaweed. It contains the image of Mauro Fernández Acuña that created the Superior School of Ladies (Colegio Superior de Señoritas).

¢1.000 is equal to $2 USD

This is a red bill that represents the dry forest and contains images of the white tailed deer and the national Guanacaste tree, scorpions and the pithaya flower, it also contains the image of Braulio Carrillo which created the national shield.

Related Read:

Costa Rican currency: Basic information on Costa Rican Colon