[XXXIII-12] Costa R., Informe Obras Púb., for years 1876-80; Id., Mem. Sec. Fomento, years 1883-4; Belly, Nic., i. 321; Lévy, Nic., 412; Nic., Mem. Min. Guerra, 1875, pp. x.-xv.; Pan. Star and Herald, Apr. 2, 1881; Feb. 1, 2, 1883; Id., Cronista, Jan. 20, 1883; Salv., Gac. Ofic., Sept. 5, 7, 1876; Presid. Barrios, Mensaje, 1876, 39-60; Guat., Recop. Ley., Gob. Democ., 10-12; Id., Mem. Sec. Fomento, for years 1880-5.
[XXXIII-13] Gold pieces of 10, 5, 2, and one dollar, the first named having the weight of 16,120 grammes. In former years it coined gold ounces with the weight of 25,836 grammes, worth $16, and halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths; silver peso, and its subdivisions worth 50, 25, 10, and 5 cts. Copper one-cent pieces containing 95 parts of copper and 5 of nickel. Silver in coins of 10 and 5 cts in legal tender only to the sum of $100; and cents not exceeding 100. The money coined in Costa Rica in the years 1829-82 has been as follows: gold, $2,351,808; silver, $56,648; total, $2,922,138. Astaburuaga, Cent. Am., 41; Costa R., Gaceta, Nov. 21, 1885; Id., Mem. Sec. Hac., 1883, annex no. 10.
[XXXIII-14] There is a nominal money used in retail trade called peso sencillo, worth 80 cents. The old Costa R. doubloon passes for $14.40 only, and the subdivisions in proportion. The new Costa R. piece of $5 is worth only $4.50. Chilian and Colombian condors pass for $9. Lévy, Nic., 370-1, 521.
[XXXIII-15] It paralyzed foreign trade, became depreciated, and caused other evils. Montúfar, Res. Hist., iii. 277. The govt endeavored to retire this coin by a gradual redemption every year.
[XXXIII-16] Foreign coins pass at their true valuation. Very little money leaves Honduras. Hond., Gaceta Ofic., May 20, 1853; Squier's Cent. Am., 272; Wells' Hond., 567-72.
[XXXIII-17] In former times there was the ounce of $16 and its subdivisions, and the silver peso with its subdivisions down to medio real, or 6¼ cents. Most of the silver coin in circulation was the macuquina or cut, which was a nuisance. The government in 1873 ordered it retired, which was in the course of time done. The system established in the law of 1870 found favor with the people as regarded gold coin. Not so with silver; the public clinging to the old denominations, and refusing to accept base metals which this law had also provided for.
[XXXIII-18] Standard of the coin 0.900. Weight of the peso 25 grammes.
[XXXIII-19] Mex. eagle $20; its subdivisions in proportion. Peruvian pieces of $20 and $10, and Colombian condors of $20 and $10, at their face value. Chilian condors of $10, $9.50. German gold piece of 20 marks, $4.93¾. American, French, and English gold coins have their full value; though they generally command a high premium. Further details may be found in Guat., Recop. Ley., ii. 578-82; Id., Gob. Dem., i. 83, 197; Salv., Diario, Dec. 14, 1878.
[XXXIII-20] There were in 1883 two banks, the Internacional and Colombiano, in the city of Guatemala; both having ample capital for a time stood high. The former, founded in 1878, suspended in 1885. The latter, founded in 1879 by capitalists who were mostly Colombians, has no agencies, and limits its operations within the capital of the republic, and to the sale of bills of exchange on foreign markets. There was also the Banco de Occidente at Quezaltenango with a capital of $100,000; its main object being to assist agriculture and manufactures in the wealthy departments of Los Altos. Its standing was somewhat shaken by its bills having been largely counterfeited in Sept. 1882; but it managed to weather the storm. The Banco de Nicaragua, a bank of issue, loans, and discounts, with a capital of $600,000, has been quite successful. It was chartered in May 1871. The Banco Anglo-Costaricense went into operation at Managua in 1873, with a capital of $100,000, under the management of Allan Wallis. The Banco Internacional of Salvador began business on the 20th of Aug., 1880, and has since been prosperous, excepting in 1885, owing to the war with Guatemala, and a subsequent revolution. However, the results of the first six months were satisfactory. In 1867 the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica went into operation at San José, with a capital of $500,000, and power to increase it to one million dollars, under a contract for ten years between John Thompson and the government. Dec. 1, 1876, the government decreed the statutes of the Banco de Emision, with a capital of $500,000 secured with mortgages on real estate to the amount of $1,000,000. But the stockholders failing to pay in the capital, the government suspended the bank, which had been operating, and ordered the books transferred to the Banco Nacional of San José, which was to redeem all notes of that bank in circulation. The Banco Nacional had been created by a decree of Dec. 25, 1877, with a capital of $250,000. Its operations were not to include the issue of notes. A charter was granted in Jan. 1881, to establish a Banco Hipotecario Franco-Costaricense with a capital of $500,000. The by-laws were approved by govt in July 1881. The bank was to have a branch in Paris. Batres' Sketch Guat., 24; S. F Cronista, Feb. 3, 1883; Jan. 31, Apr. 25, 1885; Nic., Gaceta, Aug. 3, 1867; July 8, 1871; Id., Semanal Nic., Apr. 10, 1873; Pan. Star and Herald, Aug. 3, 1867; Sept. 2, 1885; Costa R., Col. Ley., xvii. 45-50, 51-5; xx. 4-19, 110-16, 295-7, 304-6, 311-12; xxiv. 197-205; xxv. 245-60; Id., 1878, 104-6; 1881, 17-26, 64-6, 143-68; Guat., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1882, 37.
[XXXIII-21] In 1809 there was a postal service between Guatemala and David in Panamá, via Cartago in Costa Rica, by which route correspondence was kept up with South America. In 1811 a tri-monthly mail was established between Guat. and Mex., Merida, the Windward Islands, and Spain. In 1829 there was a monthly packet between New York and the Isthmus. After that, some sort of mail service was kept up till it became regular with the establishment of steamship lines. In 1844 the first mail steamer touched at Chagres, and in 1845 a line was established between Panamá and Valparaiso. In 1846 a post-route between the two oceans was established under a grant of the Brit. govt. At this time the U. S. contemplated establishing a line of steamers from Pan. to Or. via Cal. The present Pacific Mail Steamship Company was organized in 1847 for that purpose, and on the 5th of Oct. their pioneer steamship, the California, went to sea, followed at short intervals by the Panamá and Oregon. At the inception of the enterprise, success was looked for only from the agricultural resources of the Pacific coast. The discovery of gold in Cal. secured that success. The company kept up the service between N. Y. and Colon, and between Panamá and S. F. via Acapulco and Manzanilla, and later sent ships to China. Niles' Reg., xxxvii. 242; Pan. Constitucional del Istmo, Oct. 30, 1834; Mayer's Mex. as it Was, etc., 369-74; Pan., El Movimiento, Dec. 22, 1844; Seemann's Hist. Ist. Pan., in Pan. Star and Herald, Apr. 17, 1847; Crosby's Statem., MS., 3-10.