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Well the celebration Dia de Muertos, “Day of the Dead” has ended and I just watched a documentary on the last Emperor of Mexico. I think that means I should show off my latest Mexicans silver coin. The newest piece in my collection of Latin American silver coins is a 1904 Un Peso.
So last week I was looking around eBay, something I seldom do, and saw something new to me. A 1982 one ounce silver Mexican Libertad error. I’ve never seen a Libertad error. After some negotiations I am the proud new owner if it. This coin is raw, also something I would never buy from eBay. I am pleased to say it arrived as shown.
I’m going to take a break from my Civil War collection and show you a coin from one of my other interests, old Mexican Silver coins. This blog also kind of ties in with Mike’s blog of May 15th. On improperly cleaned coins. Below I have an example of a 1932 silver Un Peso. It has a “M’ mintmark meaning it was made at the Mexico City mint. This coin falls into what is called the Cap and Rays variety. This variety is one of my favorites. As you can see the coin was graded by PCGS as Genuine with Surface Damage. The damage is on the obverse with a gouge above the snakes head and through the word Unidos. This caused the coin to sell below melt. Personally, I don’t see much difference between this and a Morgan with heavy coin contact marks on it. Just me. The coin has plenty of original mint luster on it. Someone took good care of it except for that gouge. It’s a personal choice of whether you can live with a “damaged” coin or not. Now to the coin design. The obverse has the Mexican national coat of arms above a spray of oak and laurel with the legend ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS near the top. Translated United States of Mexico. Divided by the eagles head is the silver purity, 0.7 and 20. The reverse is an open oak and laurel wreath below with the date 1932 above, then UN PESO then the mintmark “M”. Above all that is the Cap with LIBERTAD written on it and all the rays. Across the edge is the lettering INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD meaning Independence and Liberty. The coin is a nice 34 mm and weighs 16.6 grams. This one peso coin is known as a type 3. There are two varieties in this date. The open or closed 9. This one being a open 9. It has a KM number of 455. I hope you enjoy this piece of Mexican history. Please feel free to comment. Thanks for your time!
Today I just received my new Libertad for this year. A bright and shiny 2018 Silver Libertad almost directly from Mexico. I’m a big fan of the silver Libertad. I wish I could afford the gold ones but maybe someday. This series of coins is very similar to our Silver American Eagles, SAE’s. They are one ounce of silver. They come out every year and they are the same design each year. Mexico does do them in some fractional weights of 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, 1 oz, 2 oz., 5 oz and 1 kilogram. This example has the modern diameter of 40 mm’s.. It is a Brilliant Uncirculated and is also available in proof. They have been smaller in diameter in some of the earlier dates. They first came out in 1986 and were 36 mm..It is minted in the Casa de Moneda , the Mexican National Mint, located in Mexico City. It is the oldest mint in all the Americas. Opening in 1535, by Spanish decree. This coin is made of 0.999 pure silver. The obverse features the modern national coat of arms at center with the eagle facing left. It is encircled by the legend ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS above and a half wreath of oak and laurel below. Surrounding that centered design is a ring of 10 Mexican coats of arms. The reverse has Mexico’s Winged Liberty on a stand in three quarter profile facing left. A wreath of laurel is in her right hand, a broken chain in her left. In the background is the Valley of Mexico. In the far distance are the mountains Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl. Reading clockwise from the left is the legend 1 ONZA/PLATA PURA/2018/LEY.999.. In the field to the right is the mintmark. I am unable to type it but it is a M with a small o on top of it. If you are unfamiliar with the story of the mountains, I encourage you to look it up. It’s one of Mexico’s greatest love stories. It has a reeded edge. Since the coin has no national value it is a bullion coin. I find these Libertad’s a nice, lower priced coin to collect. There are a few varieties out there so it is worth checking out. Thanks for your time. Please feel free to leave comments.
Below I have my example of a Mexican Commemorative. It is actually one of the series of Endangered Species in Mexico Collection. That is inscribed on the reverse in Spanish, "ANIMALES EN PELIGRO DE EXTINCION / EN MEXICO". Mine is a 2000 River Crocodile, "CROCODRILO DEL RIO". It shows a great picture of a crocodile centered on the coin. His or hers mouth is opened against a grass background. Above that is the date 2000 and the mint mark of Mexico City below it. To the left of the crocodile is the denomination, $5. To the left of everything is the Latin name of the species, (Crocodylus acutus). It is a very busy reverse but it all fits nicely on the well designed reverse.