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Mexican Coinage discussion...


Tiffibunny

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I told you my secret buddy would figure me out right away! I knew it as soon as I threw those 2 coins in the package. :ninja:

 

The Mexico coin I bought for it is the one I am thinking of getting for myself too. ;)

 

 

Ooh what is it?

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24_1_b.jpg

 

b5_1.jpg

 

It is a 5 Peso (dollar sized coin). Not sure how long it was minted but that one is from 1947.

 

I really liked that one you showed recently (Woman on the horse) too. Mexican coinage is pretty cool.

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...Mexican coinage is pretty cool.

 

 

There are a lot of Mexican coins on my type list that I am working on. What I find really cool is the effort put into the rim ornamentation; not just simple denticles, but very different designs. Look at them and you will notice that there is a lot of varieties and neat designs with them. Worthy of its own thread even! I have the one that you mention and I do recommend getting it. It is very nice and larger than a US dollar!

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I have the one that you mention and I do recommend getting it. It is very nice and larger than a US dollar!

 

Well, I didn't have that one very long before I shipped it off and I didn't actually lay a dollar over it. ;) I guess it was a bit bigger than a dollar. ;)

 

The snake eating eagle has also always been a favorite of mine. :ninja:

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There are really wonderful Mexican coins, my favorite is the 2 pesos of 1921, the design is similar to the official "onza", but its far superior (esp. the obverse).

 

I have that one and a few others from Mexico coming my way thanks to Bill. :ninja: After that escudo from you and now a BUNCH from Bill, I must be a magician to pull that much money out of my ä**.

 

The smaller silver pesos (1918-45), are also great and some dates are cheap even in BU.

 

Jose ;)

 

I agree! I picked one up even though it does not specifically fit with what I am collecting. However the design is neat, the condition was good, and the price was great! ;)

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The one that Stu posted is among my favorite Mexican designs. I love the obverse. I have the same design in copper, but not silver yet.

896683.jpg

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A newer silver Mexican design ... 1993 5 "new" pesos.

906092.jpg

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Howdy, to the group.

 

The 5-Peso StuJoe likes so well was made in 1947 and 1948. It has 30 grams of .900 fine silver making it about 10 per cent larger than a US silver dollar [pre-1935].

 

I've handled many of them for I sell them to local law enforcement officers who have them made into badges. It is a 'tradition' in Texas for law enforcement officers to have their badges made out of large Mexican silver pieces. This tradition started with Texas Rangers in the 1800's. At that time, they used the 8-reales pieces [like the 1896 and 1878 pieces Tiffy shows].

 

I know, I know, it means a beautiful coin gets mutilated; however, usually the coins to be made into badges are VF or less in condition. Besides that, for every one made into a badge, the one's remaining are that much 'more' rare...

 

[That's supposed to be a joke...]

 

So far, I've sold probably a total of 40 or so all to members of the local sheriff's department, to the District Attorney's investigators and to a Court Bailiff. Two of'em wanted the actual 8-reales pieces, so I got them a couple of chop-marked specimens.

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Further info on the Mexican items...

 

The Eagle-Snake-Cactus design is purportedly from an old legend pre-dating the Spanish 'invasion' of Mexico.

 

It seems that the indigenious folk of what is now Central Mexico had a legend that they should establish their 'capitol' at the spot where they found an eagle [killing? eating?] a snake while the eagle was perched on a cactus. Well, such was actually spotted, unfortunately, the cactus the eagle was standing on was on a rock sticking out of the middle of a lake. Anyway, the old legend was very strong 'medicine' so it had to be obeyed. The folks set up their capitol at that site by making rafts so they could live on the lake.

 

When the Spanish took over the place in the 1500's, they used the same location for their administrative headquarters, i.e., their capitol.

 

Said 'lake' [now hard to find] is in the middle of Mexico City. As recently as the 1930's or so [maybe later, I've never been there], one could go on to these 'rafts' and feel them bobbing up and down on the old lake.

 

If you look closely at some of these coins, you can see the lake as shown by water lines around the rock below the cactus.

 

The above is a very abbreviated slice'o'Mexican history, of course subject to correction and revision by anyone who has more accurate information than myself...

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Can anyone supply an "official" definition of the obverse of a Mexican coin.

I have heard that it is the "eagle-snake" side or the "other" side.

The side with the Mexican Coat of Arms is the obverse. Hope this is "official" enough:

http://www.banxico.org.mx/siteBanxicoINGLE...FSCuidados.html

 

OBVERSE

Mexico's official coat of arms.

 

REVERSE

Allusive reason to an event, year of minting, symbol of Casa de Moneda and face value or the amount of contained fine metal specification in each piece.

 

Now that applies to the precious metal pieces, but I am inclined to believe that the "eagle/snake side" is always the obverse ...

 

Christian

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The above is a very abbreviated slice'o'Mexican history, of course subject to correction and revision by anyone who has more accurate information than myself...

Have not been there yet either, but that will change in March, so I have been reading a little about the sights and the history ... The central area of Mexico (City) is also where the center of Tenochtitlán was. And very close to the Cathedral and the National Palace, the main Aztec temple was accidentally discovered about 30 years ago.

 

Don't know if the lake (Texcoco) is actually visible in that area. Due to the excessive use of the ground water in the quickly growing city many buildings have "sunk" several meters in the past couple of years ...

 

Christian

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One thing in favour of Mexican coins is that one can make a XXth century type set of circulating coins quite easy and cheaply, if you don't mind VF coins even the more expensive will cost around 20/30 USD.

 

My favorite base metal coins from Mexico are the 10 centavos (1936-46) and the "Pyramid" 20 centavos (1943-74), the first type (1943-55) in particular.

 

Jose :ninja:

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