Beginning today, banks in Costa Rica will no longer accept large, silver-colored ₡ 5, ₡ 10 and ₡ 20 coins. The only place to exchange them for value will be on the first floor of the Central Bank of Costa Rica in downtown San José.

Most merchants stopped accepting the larger coins at the end of December, but commercial banks continued to accept them until March 31 st of this year.

Roughly 40 million of these coins had been collected as of Friday, representing just 19.5 percent of the 205 million in circulation, according to the daily La Nación. The estimated value of the coins remaining in circulation is 1.7 billion colones ($3.2 million).

There was some concern when the original announcement was made that there wouldn't be enough of the smaller ₡ 5, ₡ 10 and ₡ 20 coins to meet demand. As a result, many supermarket chains placed signs by the cash register requesting exact change or the use of debit or credit cards, citing the shortage of the national currency.

In a press release, the Central Banks said it can “ensure there is enough inventory (of coins) to replenish the currencies and meet future demand.”

The Central Bank is preparing to unroll a new ₡ 20,000 bill at the end of June or in July. The bill is in the process of being printed in France and will arrive in the country at the end of the month.