1/2 oz Silver Libertad 2008: Value & Prices

If you inherited or found a 2008 half-ounce Silver Libertad, you have one of the scarcer modern Mexican silver coins. Only 11,460 were struck in the satin finish, and that low mintage is what separates it from the millions of common Libertads. In 2026, examples in top certified grades trade well above their silver value, while worn pieces still hold a floor at melt.

What it's actually worth

The 2008 half-ounce Libertad is not a generic bullion coin. Most silver Libertads are minted by the hundreds of thousands or millions and are worth close to their metal content. This one, with an official mintage of 11,460 pieces (satin finish, per Banxico's CM10 table), is genuinely scarce for the fractional Libertad series.

Value depends almost entirely on condition and certification:

• Circulated or handled (raw): roughly 20 to 40 USD, driven mostly by silver content plus a modest scarcity premium.
• Uncirculated, raw (BU): roughly 50 to 120 USD, depending on eye appeal.
• Certified MS-67 to MS-69 (NGC or PCGS): commonly 150 to 400 USD or more, since collectors of the fractional set chase this date specifically.

The metal floor never disappears. The coin holds a half troy ounce of .999 fine silver, so it can never be worth less than half the current silver spot price. Everything above that is the collector premium the low mintage creates.

The numbers that matter

Detail	Specification
Denomination	1/2 troy ounce silver
Fineness	.999 fine silver
Weight	15.5517 g
Diameter	33 mm
Edge	Reeded
Finish	Satin
Official mintage	11,460 pieces
Year struck	2008 (single year)

Use these figures to authenticate. A genuine coin weighs 15.5517 grams and measures 33 mm. If yours is off on weight or diameter, treat it as suspect.

What the coin is

The Libertad is Mexico's official silver bullion series, struck by the Casa de Moneda de México (the national mint). The design people recognize shows the Winged Victory (the "Ángel" from Mexico City's Angel of Independence monument) on the reverse, with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl behind her. The obverse carries the Mexican coat of arms surrounded by historic eagle figures drawn from the Códice Mendocino.

The 2008 issue belongs to the New Libertad Series, the design introduced by the mint in 1996 and formalized by decree in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on May 20, 1999. Silver Libertads come in several sizes (1/20, 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 5 oz), and the fractional pieces like this half ounce usually have far lower mintages than the flagship one-ounce coin. That is why the fractionals often carry the real collector premiums.

Why the low mintage drives the price

A 2008 one-ounce Silver Libertad is worth roughly its silver value because plenty exist. This half-ounce is different: 11,460 coins is a small number for a series that regularly hits six and seven figures. Collectors assembling a complete date-and-size set need this exact piece, and there simply are not many to go around, especially in high grade. Scarcity plus demand, not age, is what pushes it above melt.

How to check what yours is worth

1. Confirm weight and size. 15.5517 g and 33 mm. A quick kitchen scale that reads to a tenth of a gram gets you close.
2. Grade the condition honestly. Bag marks, scratches, and toning all cut value. An uncirculated coin with clean surfaces is worth several times a scuffed one.
3. Consider certification. For a coin that could clear a few hundred dollars, NGC or PCGS grading (and their tamper-evident holders) is the surest way to prove authenticity and grade. That is where the real money is on this date.
4. Check current silver spot. Half of the spot price is your absolute floor.

Where to sell it

Because this is a precious-metal coin, deal only with buyers who inspect the piece and its weight, and verify before you pay. Your best options are a verified dealer from the Pesoteca shop directory, which appraises on the spot, or the Pesoteca buy-and-sell forum among collectors. Photograph the obverse, reverse, and edge, and check the value range above before you accept an offer. General marketplaces have good prices but also the most fakes, so always ask sellers for edge photos and weight.

Do you own a 2008 half-ounce Libertad, and is it certified or raw? Post clear photos of both sides on the Pesoteca forum and the community will help you pin down the grade and a fair price.

1/2 troy oz Libertad silver 2008 Regular BU

This piece is the 1/2 troy oz silver Libertad, struck by the Mexican Mint (Casa de Moneda de México) in 2008 in its Regular BU version.

Specifications. It contains 15.55 g of pure silver, .999 fineness, and measures 33 mm in diameter. The reverse bears the effigy of the Angel of Independence, adopted by Banxico as the official symbol of the series since 1981. The obverse shows the National Coat of Arms in its pre-1969 version, along with other historical coats of arms as an identifying mark of the family.

Role within the set. It is the upper intermediate fraction. It weighs exactly half of the flagship piece and tends to be struck in lower mintages than the full ounce, which gives it a profile of relative scarcity within the year's set.

Context of the year. In 2008 Felipe Calderón Hinojosa was in office. The global financial crisis broke out. Silver fell from 21 USD to 9 USD per troy ounce between March and November, and then rebounded strongly.

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

Mintage. Banxico reported in its official tables a mintage of 11,460 pieces for this combination of fraction, year and finish. That figure is the basis for gauging the relative scarcity of the piece within the program.