1967 Mexican Silver Peso (Morelos): Value & Prices

If you found a 1967 Mexican 1 peso with the profile of a man on it, here is the honest answer: in circulated condition it is worth roughly 6 to 15 USD, and its silver content sets a floor of about 4 to 5 USD in metal. It is not a rare-date fortune, but 1967 is one of the shortest years of the series, which gives it a small premium over common dates.

This coin is the Morelos peso, minted from 1957 to 1967 at the Casa de Moneda de México (the Mexico City Mint). Collectors nickname the whole series the Tepalcate. The 1967 is the final year, and it is the last circulating 1 peso Mexico ever struck with any silver in it. After this, the denomination moved fully to base metals (copper-nickel), and silver was reserved for commemorative and bullion coins like the Onza Libertad.

What it is and how much silver it holds

Despite looking whitish, this is not a high-silver coin. It is billon .100, meaning 10 percent silver. The exact alloy is roughly .700 copper, .100 nickel, .100 zinc, and .100 silver. That whitish tone fools a lot of people into thinking they inherited solid silver, but the 1957-1967 Morelos peso is a low-silver piece, very different from the .720 fine pesos of the 1940s and 1950s.

Each coin contains about 0.0514 troy ounces of pure silver. At silver prices in 2026, that puts the intrinsic metal value at roughly 4 to 5 USD per coin. That number is your floor: no matter how worn, a genuine 1967 peso is worth at least its melt value.

What a 1967 peso is actually worth

Here is the value ladder for a genuine 1967 Morelos peso:

1. Heavily circulated (worn, scratched): close to melt value, about 4 to 8 USD.
2. Nice circulated (readable detail, original surfaces): roughly 6 to 15 USD.
3. Uncirculated or certified in high grade: noticeably more. Coins graded MS by NGC or PCGS with full original luster pull the strongest prices, and top examples have sold for the equivalent of several hundred pesos and up in specialized sales.

The 1967 is a short date. Only 9,308,000 were struck, one of the lowest mintages in the series alongside 1965. That is not true rarity (the full series exceeds 300 million coins), but within the Tepalcate the 1967 is a sought-after year, so it earns a small premium over common dates.

The whole value is in the condition

With a coin this common, grade is everything. A cleaned or polished 1967 peso loses value fast, because collectors want original surfaces. Never polish, scrub, or "shine up" an old coin. What looks like an improvement destroys the very thing a buyer pays for. A dull but original coin beats a bright cleaned one every time.

What appears on the coin

The reverse shows the bust of José María Morelos y Pavón, the priest and independence leader, in three-quarter profile facing right, with the mint mark Mo to the left. The obverse carries the Mexican national coat of arms (an eagle on a cactus) with the legend Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The edge is lettered with INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD, which matters for spotting fakes.

How to tell if yours is genuine

Counterfeits of low-value coins are rare, but it is worth a quick check:

• Weight: a genuine coin weighs about 16 g. Use a gram scale.
• Diameter: 34.5 mm across.
• Edge: it must carry the lettering INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD. A plain or only-reeded edge is a warning sign.
• Detail: the Morelos bust and the Mo mint mark should be sharp and crisp.

If anything is off, compare against catalog images and weigh it. For higher-grade coins where the value gap between grades is large, professional certification (NGC or PCGS) is worth the fee.

Where to sell it

For a common date like this, sell in a group rather than one coin at a time. To avoid getting shortchanged by random buyers, check the Pesoteca shop directory to find dealers and coin buyers near you. If you have a full run of Morelos pesos or high-grade examples, a specialized dealer will pay more than a pawn shop. For more on Mexico's silver coinage, see our guide to Mexican silver coins.

Got a 1967 peso, or a whole jar of old Mexican coins you inherited? Post clear photos of both sides on the Pesoteca forum and we will help you sort the melt-value pieces from the ones worth keeping.

Mexican circulating peso coins from the second half of the 20th century were struck in alloys that changed according to the cost of the metals and inflationary pressures: .720 silver in the $1, $5, $10, $25 denominations during the 1940s-50s; cupronickel starting in the 1970s; aluminum bronze and stainless steel in the 1980s; pieces with historical figures (Hidalgo, Cuauhtemoc, Juarez, Madero) in the late 1980s just before the transition to Nuevos Pesos in 1992. 1967 corresponds to the period when this variant was in circulation.