1 Peso Silver 1962

The 1 peso from 1962 is one of those pieces that many Mexican collectors remember fondly, because they still saw them circulate. It was struck in .720 fineness silver, weighs 15.81 grams and measures 34.5 millimeters, with a reeded edge and issued by the Casa de Moneda de Mexico (the Mexican Mint). The obverse shows the National Coat of Arms with the eagle in profile, and the reverse the bust of Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, the same design that defines this entire family of the Morelos peso.

This coin belongs to the peso series bearing the effigy of Morelos, which was struck between 1947 and 1967 with variations in fineness and weight over the years. The 1962 issue already corresponds to the .720 fineness stage, lower than that of the earliest years but still with a respectable silver content. It was the most widely used everyday coin of its time, the one that passed from hand to hand in the market and at the corner store, and for that reason today it carries a sentimental weight in addition to a numismatic one.

For the collector it is an accessible piece and a natural entry point into 20th century Mexican silver. Having been struck in large quantities, it is not a scarce coin in circulated grades, and there its value comes close to its silver content. The difference is set by condition: an uncirculated example, with original luster and the Morelos relief complete, sells well above a worn one. Chosen well, it makes a solid foundation for building the complete series by year.

Circulating Mexican peso coins from the second half of the twentieth century were struck in alloys that changed according to metal costs and inflationary cycles: .720 silver in the $1, $5, $10, $25 denominations during the 1940s and 1950s; cupronickel starting in the 1970s; aluminum bronze and stainless steel in the 1980s; pieces with figures (Hidalgo, Cuauhtemoc, Juarez, Madero) in the late 1980s just before the transition to Nuevos Pesos in 1992. 1962 corresponds to the period when this variant was in circulation.