When retirees and especially tourists come to Costa Rica, it usually takes them some time to used to dealing with the local currency called the, colón. Just when newcomers are getting used to making purchase with Costa Rican coins and bills a big change was announced.

Today all of Costa Rica’s major newspapers featured pictures of six new bills that will come out this year. The bills have been totally redesigned for the following denominations: 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 colones. In addition, to a completely new design on the front and the back, each bill will be a different size and color.

The new bills are made of a cotton fiber-based paper and sensitive to the touch. If you turn the bill the map of Costa Rica on the front changes color.

Bills that have nicknames like “un rojo” for 1000 colones because of its red color and “Un Tucán” for 5000 colones because of the bird on it, will now look totally different. For example, The 5,000 bill have a picture of ex-president Alfredo Gonzáles Flores on one side and a tropical motif on the back.

The 20,000 colon bill will be the first one released around in August. The 2,000 colón bill will be the second one to come out in September or October. The rest will start to circulate after that. The Central Bank will wait to see how the 20,000 colón bill is accepted by the public before they release the 50,000 colón bill.