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Assorted modern coins

Started by Globetrotter, October 17, 2020, 01:45:14 PM

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Globetrotter

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gpimper

#1
I don't come across many of these...1958 silver peso.  Nice heavy coin.  https://www.silveragecoins.com/en/details?item=609 OK. Mostly brass...but still interesting.
The Chief...aka Greg

gpimper

#2
I see we have a new thread.  I'll add this...1983 20 Centavos with an Olmeca head :-)  Like I said, Mexico has some of the neatest coins!  https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1040.html  Added; Cool link :-)  http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/mexicostoneheads.htm
The Chief...aka Greg

brandm24

I like the eagle / snake images on Mexican coins. Very nice series of coins.

Bruce
Always Faithful

gpimper

Same design.  1984.  Rev is the same.  These were only minted in 1983-84.
The Chief...aka Greg

Figleaf

#5
Quote from: gpimper on October 22, 2020, 08:23:39 AM
I don't come across many of these...1958 silver peso. (...) Mostly brass...but still interesting.

What I like about modern Mexicans is that so many of them are common that they are under-appreciated. This coin is a good example. The officially specified composition of this coins is .700 Copper, .100 Nickel, .100 Zinc and .100 Silver, so it's more copper-nickel than anything else. And yet, people call it silver. The explanation is that the silver was driven to the surface. This is an old technique. It was known in Roman times and used extensively under Henry VIII, whose disastrous wars against France caused high inflation.

The advantage of having the silver on the surface is that it looks like a silver coin. The disadvantage is that when the coin starts to wear, the dominating metal becomes visible, on the highest points first. This phenomenon explains the nickname "old coppernose" for Henry VIII, who was pictured full face on his coins :)

This type of coin is remarkable for another reason, though. Mexico is the world's largest silver mining country, accounting for 22.7% (2019 figures) of global silver production. When Mexico was still a Spanish colony, its huge silver supply fuelled inflation, primarily in Spain and growth. Today, as silver is no longer needed for photography, silver is practically useless, but even in 1957, when the type was introduced, Mexico had more silver than it could sell. The reason why the coin has a very low silver content is that Mexico's silver was once again causing inflation, this time in Mexico.

The world changed starting in the mid-sixties in a slow motion-movement that took almost 20 years to play out. Starting with the Vietnam war, it led to high shortages on the balance of payments of the US (they still exist!) to a high silver price to the demise of silver coins and - via the oil crisis - to the dollar crisis and the Hunt brothers scandal: silver was out as a mint metal. Mexico was hard hit. This coin was one of the last, if not the very last circulating coins that contained silver in the world.

So much history, from Romans to the Hunt brothers on make-believe and silver coins.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

gpimper

This one just screams MEXICO to me.  1943 20 Centavos Type I and a 1957 Type II.  The differences are subtle but there are differences.
The Chief...aka Greg

brandm24

Very nice! The sunburst behind the cap and denomination is stunning. I don't recall seeing this style of Mexican coin before.

Bruce
Always Faithful

gpimper

One of my favorite Mexico designs.  There  is a Type III but I don't have one to date.  Looking for the differentes check our the eagle ;-)
The Chief...aka Greg

brandm24

I have a small collection of non-US coins, but not sure if I have any Mexican. I'll have to look through them.

Bruce
Always Faithful

Figleaf

IIRC, the Phrygian hat in a sunburst occurs on some of the earliest republican Mexican pesos and so does the coat of arms.

The pyramid is of course from a different culture. I found myself on top of it one day. I'd already "done" a few other pyramids in Mexico and found that the descent was a bad version of hell with the devil in a foul mood, so I'd steeled myself for this one. The steps were much broader, though, so I happily hopped down, to the utter disgust of other tourists, going down with terror in their eyes, kiddy-style on hands, feet and bum. :D

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

brandm24

No escalator, Peter? I would have been one of the tourists doing what we call the "one-two, one-two" / one step at a time. :)

Bruce
Always Faithful

gpimper

My kiddo speculates that the cap is really a UFO :-)
The Chief...aka Greg

chrisild

That Sun Pyramid in Teotihuacán has been climbed by yours truly as well. And we even got there during the spring equinox "festivities" (see photo). If you want to see the place empty, have a look at this silver piece instead. ;D Dated 1997, came in several versions from 1/4 oz to 5 oz.

Here is an earlier Mexican coin with the Phrygian cap. A half peso, first issued in 1824/25