Did these ever actually circulate in Mexico?
DesertCoin
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Center is sterling silver
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Why not? Look like regular commemorative issue with States.
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Perhaps, but probably not.
I got one at face value at the bank teller once and she was probably happy to get rid of it, but I’ve never seen them being used.
Like the Americans, the Mexicans prefer paper.
Interesting, a US$5.50 value coin.
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Very interesting because it had more than $5.50 worth of silver even in 2004. However seems to have been issued for circulation at face value, so I'm curious.
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They were "sold" by banks at face value, but this does not mean that they "circulated". They were certainly not minted in quantities that would have been needed to create a fully functional circulation coin (as a 100 peso coin was not otherwise at that point in regular circulation.). And as with the intended-for-circulation silver 10 peso coins issued a few years earlier, Gresham's Law ensured that in all practical terms they did not and would not broadly circulate.
Other countries have issued NCLT coins for face value, with officials essentially giving a shrug as to whether or not the coins were "supposed" to circulate. If people wanted to circulate them they theoretically could, and they were legal tender for their face value, but they were intended as non-circulating commemoratives. They also might have some reluctance from shopkeepers to accept them as legitimate coins as their existence would not be widely publicized or well-known. Examples from other countries include:
- Australia $5 1988 (aluminium bronze)
- France 10 franc silver coins 1965-1973.
- Germany 5 and 10 deutschmark silver coins in the 1970s eg. Munich Olympics DM10 coins 1972
- Canada $20 for $20 silver coins 2011-2015
- Great Britain £20 for £20 silver coins 2013-2016
I notice in that list that everybody except for Australia did it with silver coins.
For all these coins, they were issued for face value on the assumption that people would actually keep them, rather than spend them or bank them. Any deposited with the banking system in those countries in later years would be returned to the country's mint for destruction and recycling, rather than reissued as coins.
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These silver centered coins may not have extensively circulated but there are enough worn ones out there to show that they didn't all get stashed away right from the bank. Here's one that probably didn't get worn down going from collector to collector...
The $10 did circulate, however I’m uncertain about the $20 and $100.
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I spoke to a Mexican about this just tonight.
He said people got them from the bank but did not use them. They kept them as a savings or investment.
Mexico, being the largest silver producer in the world, and with a long and proud history of silver coinage, wanted some silver in their circulating coins. Once the Peso became too low valued to have silver, they moved it to the 5 Pesos, then the 10, 25, and 100 Pesos in turn. It was finally determined that a silver circulating coin would never be successful and it stopped. Now, of course, it could never be revived.
Very interesting, that explains a lot. Thank you.
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Here's a $20 and a $50 from eBay. Now, I'm not arguing that these coins circulated in any widespread fashion but something happened which caused them to be in the state they're currently in.
Pocket pieces of beach lifeguards?
Per John Albanese, it takes months of "pocket time" for a coin to begin showing any wear. The coins above show years of wear.
I HIGHLY doubt this is circulation wear. But what it is, I have no clue.
I can tell you that in Mexico today, there is a 20 Peso circulating coin (no silver), and it is hardly used. Just like the Sacs here. If the coin had silver, as the above coins do, it would probably never be used over paper.
In 2004, an ounce of silver was between $5.50 and $8.50. Let's take the average of $7.
Per Krause, the bimetallic 100 Pesos coin had 16.812g of Sterling silver, hence 1/2 oz. of fine silver.
In 2004, the average exchange rate MXN/USD was 11. So a 100 Pesos coin would be $9.09 USD.
Hence, the face value ($9.09) of the coin was worth way more than the silver value ($3.50) at that time.
Even at the extremes, silver value of $8.50 per ounce and exchange rate of 12, the face value was $8.33 and the silver value was $4.25 (approx. double).
I can confirm the pocket time statement, I personally experiment with wearing coins down strictly from pocket wear.
“Land of the free because of the brave”
“Saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone”
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The 1992-95 silver center 10 pesos absolutely must have been used to some extent... I've seen a bunch of these with moderate circulation wear.
I would think the 20 pesos did as well - they minted 25 million in the first year. And in fact, the 20 new pesos contained relatively less silver, so it shouldn't have been hoarded as quickly. The 10 pesos had 1/6 troy oz.; the 20 pesos had 1/4 troy oz.
In early 1993, the new peso was worth about 32c American... and silver was about $3.75/Oz. (geez...).
So, 10 MXN equaled $3.20 USD... and contained about $0.62 of silver... while the 20 MXN equaled $6.40 USD and contained only $0.93 silver content.
Meanwhile, can I melt my bucket of $0.0394 apiece pre-1982 pennies yet??????
Some food for thought... through that same early 1990s period, the old silver Swiss coinage - particularly the 30s-60s 5 Fr. coin, which contained relatively less silver than the 1/2, 1 and 2 Fr. - was often worth appreciably more in currency exchange value than in silver content. I'd bet there were people who were using some of it as money here and there out of necessity, convenience, whatever in that period.
EDIT: Come to think of it, same must have been true - assuming they were still legal tender - for the Japanese 100 yen and moreso those common 1000 1964 Olympics 1000 yen (worth USD $10 by the mid-90s but only USD $4 in silver).