The Costa Rican colón is named after which explorer?

The Costa Rican colón is named after Christopher Columbus.

Costa Rica’s currency takes its name from Christopher Columbus, whose Spanish name is Cristóbal Colón. The colón replaced the Costa Rican peso in 1896. Its international currency code is CRC, and it is divided into 100 céntimos.

The name is part of a wider historical pattern in which currencies commemorate explorers, rulers or national figures. Costa Rica’s colón should not be confused with the former Salvadoran colón, which was replaced by the United States dollar in 2001, or with Colombia’s peso, another currency used in a nearby region.

Costa Rican banknotes feature national figures, landscapes and wildlife rather than simply repeating the explorer’s portrait. The currency’s name preserves the Spanish form of Columbus’s surname, while its modern notes and coins express Costa Rican history and biodiversity.