Question on Mexico’s Nuevo Pesos (w/ Silver Centers)

[Recyclersteve]

I see that some of the 10, 20 and 50 peso coins from Mexico have centers that are 92.5% silver. I have several questions about this as I might be buying a fairly large quantity of Mexican coins...

1) The center is 92.5% silver, but what percent of the whole coin is that?

2) Are the centers easy to remove to melt down?

3) Is there much of a market for these coins? In other words, would they be easy to sell here or to a local dealer without removing the centers?

4) What years were they minted?

5) In reality, how easy is it to find these coins in a box or coffee can of Mexican coins? If it is like finding a 1970-D U.S. half in change, forget it. (I’ve only found 1-2 in my entire life!)

[stas3000]

I like those coins quite a bit. Have several in my collection. A few answers:

1) I believe it depends on denomination. Check out Numista pages such as https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces590.html. In the comments section re: this 10 Nuevo Pesos coin, there is a mention of... "The inner part consists of 5.604 g of .925 silver." I'm not sure how it was determined. Perhaps someone removed the ring -- it's on there tight -- and weighed it? Or maybe the mint provided that?

2) Don't think it's easy to remove but I've seen these coins offered for sale without the ring which I found interesting.

3) I don't know how popular they are but they normally sell for premium over silver melt value. Again, I like them.

4) The Nuevo Peso was introduced in either 1992 or 1993. The most common silver coins I find are the N$10 (see link above). I normally see 1992-1995 dates. Pretty sure the 1996 is very hard to get. Here is something helpful from Wikipedia regarding these coins:

"In 1993, coins of the new currency (dated 1992) were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, and 50 centavos and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 nuevos pesos. The 5 and 10 centavos were minted in stainless steel, and the 20 and 50 centavos in aluminum bronze. The nuevo peso denominations were bimetallic, with the 1, 2, and 5 nuevos pesos having aluminum bronze centers and stainless steel rings and the 10, 20, and 50 nuevos pesos having .925 silver centers and aluminum bronze rings.

In 1996, the word Nuevo was removed from the coins. New 10 pesos were introduced with base metal replacing the silver center. The 20-, 50-, and 100-peso coins are the only currently circulating coinage in the world to contain any silver."

URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_peso

5) No idea but there were a variety of bimetallic coins struck by their mint. Some may look clad -- bronze ring and Cu-Ni center -- but as I mentioned above, some actually do have silver centers! So dealers that are not familiar with foreign coins may just assume they contain no silver... just a guess.

Hope this helps!

[JadeDragon]

I lived in Mexico for a few months several years ago. I was aware these coins existed but I never saw any in circulation and I was unable to buy any at various banks I dealt with. Now my Spanish is not great and I did not check that many banks, but I am pretty sure the Mexicans can sus out a silver coin worth over face and keep it. I’d love to own some of these and will be following this thread.

The bimetallic coins are not listed here unfortunately https://www.coinflation.com/mexico/

[stas3000]

I lived in Mexico for a few months several years ago. I was aware these coins existed but I never saw any in circulation and I was unable to buy any at various banks I dealt with. Now my Spanish is not great and I did not check that many banks, but I am pretty sure the Mexicans can sus out a silver coin worth over face and keep it. I’d love to own some of these and will be following this thread.

The bimetallic coins are not listed here unfortunately https://www.coinflation.com/mexico/

While the N$10 and higher were supposed to be ordinary circulating coins, Mexican people are not idiots. I'm sure these coins were either hoarded by the people or the government removed them from circulation as I believe their scrap value exceeded face value at some point in the 1990's. (More than likely #2, i.e. the government made a power move and withdrew them.) So I bet they were a fail when it comes to circulation for their intended purpose. Which is good and bad: most of the time, Nuevo Peso circulated coins w/ silver centers still have lots of details remaining but finding them is not very easy. At least not in the United States. Probably only harder in Canada. But it is possible. As I already mentioned, they typically come with a premium (often sizable) if sold in small quantities by coin dealers. The best prices I've been able to get were when they came in a larger lot of miscel. foreign coins.

Mexican coins are fascinating to me with all of the political, economic and other changes over the country's history: Second Republic 90%+ silver coins, a variety of 72%, Pesos of 30% and 10% silver varieties, these Sterling center bi-metallic issues, Sterling Onzas, bullion and proof Libertads, etc etc. Confusing and frustrating to some but fun to others!

[JadeDragon]

In my experience anything labeled Nuevo Peso has been removed from circulation many years ago. The Wikipedia article confirms that the government pulled the Nuevo Pesos after they renamed the currency just Pesos again. There is no coin roll hunting to do in Mexico that I could figure out.

[AGgressive Metal]

I find these pretty routinely, maybe 1 in 500 (?) or so because US dealers don't look for them. There is no need to remove the silver center anymore than you need to melt down a 40% JFK to get money for it, since enough people know what it is, it just trades as a bullion piece like any other silver coin - the weight is 0.1667 oz ASW if I recall correctly.

[stas3000]

I find these pretty routinely, maybe 1 in 500 (?) or so because US dealers don't look for them. There is no need to remove the silver center anymore than you need to melt down a 40% JFK to get money for it, since enough people know what it is, it just trades as a bullion piece like any other silver coin - the weight is 0.1667 oz ASW if I recall correctly.

I wish these traded as bullion pieces! Too often I see them at very high premiums. Well, that is if I see them at all. It is also a common mistake -- even by experienced coin dealers -- to assume all Mexican coins with "silver" centers are actually silver.

As to the silver center, I've never actually taken it out of any of the coins in my small collection and not planning on it... but according to Numista, "The inner part consists of 5.604 g of .925 silver." Source: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces590.html. So you are right on!