Mexican Pesos Of 1910-14

Archraz You hit the nail on the head. The mintages for this series are very misleading. The amount of silver in these coins made them bullion issues almost immediately and the shortage of silver during the revolution caused most of them to be melted. The 8Rs and Strong Pesos did not survive in Mexico. They too were melted, but most of the surviving copies that we collect today had already left Mexico years before.

The Caballito is a beautiful coin but the dies were low relief (to extend die life) and the design is often not visible. I actually like the look of the dirty or darkly toned copies because the design stands out. The eagle's are always stronger looking as well. I would grade your two as mid range VF.

The series is noted for forgeries and re-tooled (doctored) pieces. Nice original surfaces grading EF or better are really hard to locate at reasonable prices.

Actually that is dirt cheap. Just make sure the weight and SG are correct. These have been targets for Chinese forgers for some time.

Be careful - you never know.

Swamperbob, those are beautiful!! I've always loved the Caballito, but I sadly do not own any at this time. I'd say nice strong VF in both cases. They're gorgeous little treasures!

harrison2 That is an open ended question. But start from the premise that you are unlikely to encounter a contemporary counterfeit. That means the coin will be a Numismatic Counterfeit if it is not real. The coin really needs to be examined in person, but here is what to look for.

1. Weight - the peso should be very close to 27 grams. These were low relief so a small loss of silver means a great deal of apparent wear.
2. Check the edge of the coin for a seam or file marks at the corners that could indicate a removed seam.
3. The design will be correct but are all the details there in the protected areas? Transfer copies will lose detail depemding on the method used.
4. Look for die lines and lumps on the fields that do not belong.
5. On a high grade copy check the tops of the letters to see if they have a frosted or pebbely appearance some newer copy techniques do this and die recesses (tops of letters) can not be polished.

That is about it. Good luck and be careful - there are MORE forgeries today than originals.

harrison2 You ask:




The pictures in this thread are a good place to start - they show much of the fine detail that is lost or distorted in most transfer processes. The differences will be in the finest details - the smile on the lady's face - the hair strands where they pass behind the arm. The hair/arm intersection is one of those intersections where the relief will cause problems with the transfer process. On an impact die it will distort. On a casting it will be rounded. On most computer or photo engraved dies the details will be fuzzy or missing at the transition.

In the impact transfer process the perimeters are weaker than the center (lower relief) but the distortion will be greatest near the center. Many impact dies are missing features or have weak portions - so re-engraving is common. Also a ghost doubling effect is seen a lot because the impact mechanism often BOUNCES on impact.

The ray intersections with the horses' tail are also a good place to look.

Regarding the pictures of Pesos from the 1920's era - I see none that are obvious forgeries. Some cleaning and surface color changes but no fakes in my opinion.

OK, thanks for the pointers. When I see the coin in person in the coming weeks, I should have a good idea of what to look for. I'll also endeavor to take photos while at the market and post them BEFORE buying...of course, if it passes initial muster, I may have to just buy it on the premise that the owner is hesitant to let it go and I may not get a 2nd chance.

We'll see how it all plays out.

In the mean time...the hunt for some rare pesos continues...I caught a nice 1953 five peso the other day for just a few cents above melt...that was nice. :)