On Oct. 23, the late Frederick Mayer's collection of Costa Rican coins, tokens and paper money was auctioned by the firm of Spink-Smythe in New York City. The day before, Oct. 22, Spink-Shreves sold Mayer's collection of Costa Rican stamps at the same location. The Shreves stamp auction firm and Smythe are now integrated and owned by Spink. This first part of my review concerns the setting and atmosphere of the auction, the general importance of the material that was sold, the consignor, and the participants. In part 2, I will discuss Costa Rican silver coins.