CINCO de MAYO-GOLD 2.5 PESO!
The other day, Tuesday, 5 May, was the celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Briefly, it is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla in which the hugely outnumbered Mexican Army was victorious in defeating the French and gaining their independence. I love this day and since there were no public celebrations, I did the only thing possible, I bought a coin. I am a collector of all Latin American silver coinage. This day is special so I went for a gold coin instead.
Gold or oro, is getting hard to come by lately. I was able to purchase this coin at a bit over melt. It was advertised as "Random Dates". That means you have no idea what year coin you will get. It was sight unseen. When it arrived I was pleased to see it was a 1945 coin in MS shape. I considered sending it into NGC but decided not to. The price to do so was just too high.
The 2.5 Peaso is a gold coin that was struck in .900 gold. My coin is dated 1945. These are by far the most plentiful. They were restruck between 1951-1972 all with the 1945 date. This is not uncommon for the Mexico City Mint, Casa de Moneda. All together it was minted from 1918-1948.. There is a mintage of 5,025,087 with this date. It weighs 2.08 grams and has a tiny diameter of 15.5 mm.. It's Actual Gold Weight, AGW, is .0603 troy ounces.
The obverse has the typical design for Mexican coins of this vintage of an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in it's mouth and holding it with one talon. The bottom shows an olive and oak wreath and the inscription, "ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS", The United States of Mexico.
The reverse features a left facing face of Don Miguel Hidalgo with the inscription "DOS Y MEDIO PESOS", two and a half pesos. Then there is the date "1945". Don Hidalgo was a priest that helped organize an army of Mexican civilians and is considered the father of the Mexican Revolution. For this he was executed by the Spanish rulers.
Please check out the photos below. They really don't do justice to my coin. It is a beautiful gold color and very well struck. I included a photo of my coin alongside a dime for size comparence. I also included two stock photos to show the coin better.
Ihope you enjoy this blog and learn something from it. Please feel free to comment.
SOURCES:
En.numista.com
History.com
Red Book of Modern World Coins
Mexican Money Vol. 1 by Don & Lois Bailey
Comments
Koinkid
Level 3
This is very nice, WOW!
Kepi
Level 6
Wow! That's a beauty! The color of this gold piece is amazing! Congrats on a beautiful find!
Doug S.
Level 4
Wow. Very nice.
Golfer
Level 5
Beautiful gold coin. Can't go wrong with a nice beautiful gold coin. Our usual Mexican restaurant here was packed, or should I say I heard there was a long line for picking up take out. Looking forward to a Margarita, now that you brought up Cinco De Mayo ! Thanks for the post, it was a nice coin to see and nice information. thanks
It's Mokie
Level 6
Nice pickup Longstrider, a gold coin is a little ray of sunshine during this trying time and we all need some sunshine. Thanks for sharing and reminding us that Mexico has the oldest mint in the Americas and a long history of beautiful coinage.
"SUN"
Level 6
Thanks for highlighting the information.
coinsbygary
Level 5
What year was the Battle of Puebla? That is a nice gold coin you have. There is just something about buying a coin struck in gold that is exciting. I like the comparison to the dime you posted to get a perspective of the size of these coins. I find it interesting that Mexico was striking gold coins when just about no one else was. Did these circulate in 1945 or were they considered a bullion coin?
Longstrider
Level 6
HI Gary. The Battle of Puebla took place on 5 May, 1862. The coin is demonetized, I don't know when this happened. I have a gold 50 Peso coin I sent in to NGC. It came back as a regular MS 65. No mention of a bullion coin. This coin has a KM # 463. In reality I would say it is bullion. I bought it as bullion and as a Mexican coin since I collect them. Hope this helps. I did some additional research. Yes, these coins were in circulation. First from 1870-1843 then again from 1918-1920 and in 1944-1948. These coins had varies mint marks. About 5,025,087 official restrikes bearing the date "1945" were minted from 1951 to 1972. Additional matte restrikes bearing the same date were coined in 1996, and a further 517,000 pieces with the year "1945" were manufactured from 2000 to 2009.There are also a few varieties. I got this info at: https://currencies.fandom.com/wiki/Mexican_2%C2%BD_peso_coin
Mike
Level 7
A great day of celabration. A wonderful coin to mark it. There is a great history in a coin like that thats twice i picked up something . Its a good day . I like it you got yourself a.beautiful coin. It tells.a.great storty. I feel bad for those who dont read blogs . Collecting is history and you did a great job. Thanks for sharing.