1/10 oz Silver Libertad 2009: Value & How to Sell

If you found a small Mexican silver coin with an angel on one side and marked "1/10 onza plata pura," here's the honest answer: as pure silver it carries a modest melt value, but the 2009 issue is a genuinely low-mintage piece. Only 6,665 were struck in the satin finish, and that scarcity is what pushes its collector price above the metal in 2026.

What you actually have

The Onza Libertad ("Libertad ounce") is Mexico's official bullion silver coin, struck by the Casa de Moneda de México (the Mexican Mint). The 1/10 oz version is the smallest silver denomination in the series. Yours contains one tenth of a troy ounce of pure .999 silver.

Exact specs, keep these to check authenticity:

• Metal: .999 fine silver (pure silver)
• Weight: 3.1103 grams
• Diameter: 20 mm (some catalogs list 19.97 mm)
• Edge: reeded (fine vertical grooves)
• Obverse: the Mexican coat of arms surrounded by historic eagles from the Codex Mendoza
• Reverse: the Winged Victory (the "Angel of Independence" statue in Mexico City) with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl behind her

This 2009 coin belongs to the Nueva Serie Libertad (New Libertad Series), the design the Mint introduced in 1996 and formalized by decree in May 1999.

What it's worth in 2026

Two values matter here, and they are very different.

Melt value (the floor). A 1/10 oz silver coin is worth one tenth of the silver spot price. At current silver levels that's a few dollars, and that number moves with the metal market every day. No 1/10 oz Libertad, of any year, sells below its silver content. That's your safety net.

Collector value (where 2009 gets interesting). The Banxico production table (CM10) reports an official mintage of 6,665 pieces in the satin finish for 2009. That is a small number for a bullion series, and low-mintage Libertads trade well above melt. A raw 2009 satin 1/10 oz typically brings well more than a common-date fractional Libertad, and a certified high-grade example (NGC or PCGS, MS-69 or MS-70) can command a strong multiple over spot. Because the market for fractional Libertads is thinner than the 1 oz coin, prices vary widely between sales. Expect a range from a modest premium over silver for a circulated or ungraded coin, up to a meaningful collector price for a certified top-grade piece.

Coin	Year	Finish	Mintage	What drives price
1/10 oz Silver Libertad	2009	Satin	6,665	Low mintage + grade
1/10 oz Silver Libertad	2009	Proof (mirror)	Separate issue	Even scarcer, sold in sets

Mirror-finish (proof) versions of the same year exist and are cataloged separately. If your coin has a mirror-like field and frosted design, it's a different, usually scarcer issue.

The myth to kill

A small silver coin from 2009 is not a museum rarity worth thousands automatically. Age alone means nothing here; 2009 is recent. What gives this coin a premium is the low mintage of 6,665 and, above all, the grade. A worn, scratched, or cleaned example is worth close to its silver content and little more. The record prices you may see online are for flawless certified coins, not for the average one sitting in a drawer.

How to check what yours is worth

1. Weigh it. It must be 3.1103 grams. If it's off, be suspicious.
2. Measure it. 20 mm diameter, reeded edge. Fakes often miss the exact dimensions.
3. Grade it honestly. Look at the fields under light. Bag marks, scratches, or signs of cleaning drop the value fast.
4. Certify the good ones. For a piece you think is high grade, send it to NGC or PCGS. A certified MS-70 is worth far more than the same coin raw, because buyers pay for the guarantee.

How to tell if it's genuine

Silver has a distinct high, ringing tone when balanced on a fingertip and tapped; a fake tends to sound dull and short. Combine that with the exact weight and diameter above. For anything you believe is valuable, professional grading from NGC or PCGS is the only definitive proof, and it settles both authenticity and grade at once.

Where to sell it

Because this is a precious-metal coin, sell to buyers who will inspect it in person or accept clear photos of the obverse, reverse, and edge. Your options:

• A verified coin shop from the Pesoteca directory, which can appraise it on the spot.
• The Pesoteca buy-and-sell forum, dealing directly with collectors.
• Certified auction houses if you have a top-grade certified example.

Photograph both faces and the edge, check the price range above, and don't dump it to the first offer on social media. If you think you have a mint error (off-center strike, die rotation), post it on the Pesoteca forum for the community to verify. Most "errors" circulating online are post-mint damage, not factory errors.

1/10 troy oz Libertad silver 2009 Regular BU

This piece is the silver Libertad Onza of 1/10 troy ounce, struck by the Mexican Mint in 2009 in its Regular BU version.

Technical data. It contains 3.11 g of pure silver of .999 fineness and measures 20 mm in diameter. The reverse bears the effigy of the Angel of Independence, chosen by Banxico as the official symbol of the series since 1981. The obverse shows the National Coat of Arms in its pre-1969 version, alongside other historical coats of arms as the family's mark of identity.

Role within the set. It is a small fraction but already with presence in the hand. It is used as a gift piece and as a gateway into serious collecting. The premium over spot remains higher than that of the full ounce because of the cost of the die over so few grams.

Context of the year. In 2009 Felipe Calderon Hinojosa was in office. It was a year of recovery after the crisis. Silver closed at 16.99 USD per troy ounce. Demand for bullion as a safe haven rose.

Regular BU finish. The Regular finish, cataloged by Banxico as satin or BU, is obtained with dies without special polishing. The result is an even matte shine across the entire surface, with no mirror contrast between fields and relief. It is the traditional bullion finish: it is bought for its weight in pure silver plus a modest die premium. It is the version that hunters seek to build the complete set by year without decapitalizing on each piece.

Mintage. Banxico reported in its official tables a mintage of 6,665 pieces for this combination of fraction, year, and finish. That number is the basis for measuring the relative scarcity of the piece within the program.