20 Pesos Belisario Domínguez 2013: Value & Prices

Found a Mexican 20-peso coin with a mustachioed man and the years 1863-2013 on it? That's the Belisario Domínguez commemorative from 2013, and it's one of the better ones to have. Most of these trade for about 20 to 45 USD depending on condition, not a fortune, but well above the 20 pesos stamped on it. Here is what it actually is and what yours is worth in 2026.

What you have

This is a Mexican 20-peso coin struck by the Banco de México (Mexico's central bank) in 2013. It honors Belisario Domínguez Palencia, a senator remembered for openly defying a dictator. The coin marks two anniversaries at once: 150 years since his birth and 100 years since his death, which is why the reverse carries the dates 1863-2013.

It is a bimetallic coin, meaning two metals: an outer ring of aluminum-bronze and a center of copper-nickel. There is no silver or gold in it, so it has no bullion (melt) value worth chasing. Its worth is purely collector demand.

Spec	Detail
Denomination	20 Pesos
Year	2013
Metal	Aluminum-bronze ring, copper-nickel center (bimetallic)
Weight	15.945 g
Diameter	32 mm
Mintage	1,000,000
Series	Family C1
Mint	Casa de Moneda de México (M°)

What it's worth in 2026

Here is the honest range in US dollars:

Condition	Value (USD)
Circulated (worn, handled)	about 20 to 25 USD
Uncirculated (BU, full luster, no handling)	about 45 USD
Sealed mint blister pack	above uncirculated

In Mexican pesos, that works out to roughly 400 to 900 pesos. A worn coin sits at the low end. A crisp uncirculated piece with full luster and no fingerprints reaches the top. Sealed in its original Banco de México blister pack, it commands a small premium over a loose uncirculated coin.

Do not expect thousands. Despite social-media posts claiming Mexican 20-peso coins are worth a small fortune, this one is a modest collector piece, valuable because of a low mintage, not because it is made of anything precious.

Why this one is worth more than face value

Most 20-peso commemoratives were struck in far larger quantities. This one had a mintage of just 1,000,000 pieces, which is short for the family of 20-peso coins. That scarcity puts it among the more sought-after entries in the series, alongside the Centenario de la Toma de Zacatecas 2014. If you are working through this whole series, the Centenario del Ejército Mexicano 2013 is another one from the same C1 family worth tracking.

The reverse shows the senator's portrait with the legend BELISARIO DOMÍNGUEZ ENNOBLECIÓ A LA PATRIA, the mint mark M°, the dates 1863-2013, and the inscriptions 100 ANIVERSARIO LUCTUOSO (100th anniversary of his death) and 150 ANIVERSARIO DE SU NACIMIENTO (150th anniversary of his birth).

How to check if yours is genuine

Weigh it on a jewelry scale and measure the diameter with calipers. A genuine coin weighs 15.945 grams and measures 32 millimeters across. Counterfeits usually miss the weight or diameter, show flat relief, or have the two metals colored wrong. The bimetallic construction and sharp detail are hard to fake convincingly at this value level.

Beware of "error coin" claims. Genuine mint errors (off-center strikes, die rotation, doubled strikes) can multiply a coin's value, but the overwhelming majority of "errors" people post online are just post-mint damage: dings, corrosion, and scratches. Those lower the value, they don't raise it.

Where to sell it

To get a fair price, take clear photos of the front (anverso), back (reverso), and edge (canto), then compare against the range above before you sell. Your best options:

• A verified numismatic dealer from the Pesoteca shop directory, who can appraise it on the spot.
• The Pesoteca buy-and-sell forum, where you deal directly with collectors.

Avoid dumping it to the first bidder on a general marketplace. At this value, condition drives everything, so a photo and a grade estimate matter.

Not sure what grade yours is or whether you have a real error? Post your photos in the Pesoteca forum and let the community weigh in before you sell.

This piece brings together two anniversaries in one: the 150th anniversary of the birth and the 100th anniversary of the death of Belisario Domínguez Palencia, per the decree in the Diario Oficial de la Federación of March 29, 2013.

Domínguez was born in Comitán, Chiapas, in 1863. A physician trained in Paris, he entered the Senate in March 1913, just as Victoriano Huerta's coup had cost President Madero his life. In September of that year, from the Senate floor, he wrote and distributed speeches that called Huerta a usurper and a murderer, and demanded that the legislators call for his resignation. He knew the risk: on the night of October 7, 1913, they took him from his hotel and killed him; his body appeared days later near the Coyoacán cemetery.

His courage forced Huerta to dissolve Congress and turned Domínguez into a symbol of the defense of democracy. That is why Mexico put him on metal a hundred years later: not for what he was as a physician, but for what he dared to say out loud.

A coin awarded around the world

This piece holds a title few coins in the world can boast: it was declared the Most Beautiful Circulating Coin in the World by the XXVIII World Conference of Mint Directors (MDC). The announcement was made on May 8, 2014, at the National Numismatic Museum of the Mexican Mint. If you have one, you literally caught the most beautiful coin on the planet.

A mintage of one million: why it's among the sought-after

The number that rules here is 1,000,000 pieces. It sounds like a lot, but it's a short mintage within the family of commemorative 20-peso coins. To put it in perspective: the 2021 Bicentennial "cabezón" was struck at 262.8 million, about 262 times more. That's why everyone has the cabezón and this Belisario is hard to assemble in sound condition. Its cousin in rarity is the 2014 Toma de Zacatecas 20 pesos, which also came out at one million; if you assemble the full series of commemorative 20-peso coins, these two are the ones you feel most in the pocket.

How to read the reverse

The reverse carries the three-quarter right-profile portrait of Belisario Domínguez Palencia, with two bands behind. Above the portrait, in three lines, the legend BELISARIO DOMINGUEZ ENNOBLECIO A LA PATRIA. To the right appears the mint mark M with the years 1863-2013, the two dates the coin commemorates at once. In the left margin you read 100 ANIVERSARIO LUCTUOSO and on the right 150 ANIVERSARIO DE SU NACIMIENTO. In the exergue is the denomination $20, and a geometric border of squares with dots and triangles closes the composition. It is a bimetallic coin of 32 mm and 15.945 grams, the same physical format as the rest of the twenties; it passes for ordinary change, and that's the trap.

What it's worth and how to get it sound

Today the piece moves between 400 and 900 pesos depending on condition. A circulated one, scratched and with the shine worn away, is worth less; one in BU, with its full luster and no handling, goes to the high end of the range. Check the bimetal: on these coins the ring and the core sometimes loosen or spot differently, and a piece with an oxidized center or knocks on the edge loses value fast. Look for a clean face, an edge without dings, and even luster. Be wary of anyone trying to sell it to you at double the range on the argument that "there are none left": it's sought-after, but not that much.