Mexican Air Force Centennial 20 Pesos (2015): Value Guide

If you inherited or found a Mexican 20 peso coin honoring the Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Mexicana), here is the honest answer: in 2026 it is worth roughly 5 to 15 US dollars in ordinary condition. It is not a rarity, and it is not worth millions no matter what a Marketplace ad claims. Mexico minted 5 million of them.

What this coin actually is

This is a 20 peso commemorative struck in 2015 for the centennial of the Mexican Air Force, founded February 5, 1915. It is a bimetallic coin (part of the Banxico C1 family): an aluminum-bronze outer ring around a copper-nickel center. It carries no silver and no gold, so it has no bullion value to fall back on. Its worth is purely as a collectible.

Specifications you can verify with a scale and calipers:

• Weight: 15.93 grams
• Diameter: 32.01 mm
• Composition: bimetallic, aluminum-bronze ring, copper-nickel center
• Year: 2015 (single year of issue)
• Mintage: 5,000,000 pieces
• Denomination: 20 pesos

The reverse shows the number 100, an equilateral triangle, a wing (the flight symbol adopted in 1915), a five-pointed star, and the legends "Fuerza Aérea Mexicana" and "Salvaguardando el espacio aéreo militar" (guarding military airspace). That combination appears on no other coin in the series, which makes it easy to identify.

How much is it worth?

With 5 million minted just a decade ago, this is a common modern coin, not a treasure. Value depends entirely on condition.

Condition	What it means	Approximate value (USD)
Circulated	Worn, from pocket change	4 to 8 USD
Uncirculated (UNC/MS)	Crisp, no wear	8 to 15 USD
Sealed official blister	Factory Banxico packaging	12 to 18 USD

At Pesoteca, a sealed official blister traded at a reference price of 250 pesos (roughly 13 to 15 US dollars) in validated catalog data. Loose uncirculated examples sell for less. A worn coin from circulation sits at the bottom of the range.

The only way this coin jumps in value is a certified high mint-state grade (MS-66 or better from NGC or PCGS) or a genuine, verifiable mint error. Both are uncommon, and neither turns a 20 peso coin into a fortune.

"But someone said it's worth millions"

It is not. Sellers post absurd Marketplace and eBay listings with fantasy prices to farm clicks and calls. Nobody has ever paid those amounts. This is a 2015 coin, still found in circulation and in collector sets, with a real market value in the single digits to low teens in US dollars. If a listing shows a five- or six-figure price, it is a fishing attempt, not a sale.

Are there valuable errors?

Genuine mint errors (off-center strikes, die rotation, double strikes) can multiply the value of a coin when they are real and certified. The catch: most "errors" people post online are post-mint damage, dings, scratches, or corrosion that happened after the coin left the mint. Those add nothing. If you think you have a true error, get a second opinion before you get excited.

How to tell if yours is genuine

This coin is not heavily counterfeited (it is not worth faking a common bimetallic), but do a quick check:

1. Weigh it. It should be 15.93 grams. Off by more than a few tenths of a gram, treat it as suspect.
2. Measure it. Diameter is 32.01 mm.
3. Check the relief. Compare the detail against official Banxico images. Fakes and cast copies look flat and mushy.
4. Certify if in doubt. For any coin you plan to buy or sell for real money, NGC or PCGS grading is the definitive answer on both authenticity and grade.

Where to sell it

Because it is a common piece, keep your selling costs low:

• A verified numismatic shop appraises it on the spot. Best for a fast, honest cash offer.
• Serious collector forums and groups let you reach buyers directly without a middleman markup.
• Coin fairs are good for meeting dealers in person.

Photograph the obverse, reverse, and edge clearly, and check the price range above before you accept an offer. Do not dump it at the first lowball bid.

Related bimetallic commemoratives worth checking if you have a set include the Bicentennial of the Death of José María Morelos y Pavón and the Centennial of the Taking of Zacatecas.

Have one of these and not sure what grade it is, or think you spotted an error? Post clear photos of both sides on the Pesoteca forum and let collectors weigh in before you sell.

This piece celebrates the first century of the Mexican Air Force (1915-2015). The origin lies in the midst of the Revolution: on February 5, 1915, in the port of Veracruz, Venustiano Carranza, First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army, issued the accord that created the Military Aviation arm, direct antecedent of the FAM. In charge was Major Alberto Leopoldo Salinas Carranza, and that same year the National Aviation School and the National Aeronautical Construction Workshops got underway, where aircraft, engines, and propellers were built with Mexican ingenuity.

Military aviation grew until it attained the rank of Armed Force in 1944, and its most remembered chapter was Squadron 201, which fought in the Pacific during World War II, the only Mexican unit that fought outside the country in an external conflict.

A hundred years later, the decree published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on May 20, 2015, authorized this 20-peso coin to honor that history of flight. A piece that is hard to hunt at a good price.

From the Morane-Saulnier to Squadron 201

The first operational unit of that aviation was three Morane-Saulnier monoplanes, grouped in the air flotilla of the Constitutionalist Army. With them they flew in combats in Campeche (Halachó, Blanca Flor, and Poc Boc): reconnaissance, observation, bombing, and even dropping propaganda from the air. A detail that confuses many: the founding is from February 5, 1915, but the name "Mexican Air Force" was not given until February 10, 1944, when it obtained constitutional status as an armed force; that is why the "Centennial" is counted from 1915.

The most remembered chapter is Squadron 201, the only Mexican military unit that fought outside the country in World War II. Part of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force, it trained in the United States and in 1945 fought in the Battle of Luzon, in the Philippines, flying P-47D Thunderbolt fighters with the Mexican and U.S. insignias on the fuselage: more than 95 combat missions and more than 1,900 flight hours, with five pilots lost. The squadron returned to Mexico City on November 18, 1945, and handed its flag to President Ávila Camacho in the Zócalo.

How to identify it and how rare it is

It shares shape and size with the rest of series C, so you identify it by the reverse. It must have: a large number 100 (the hundred years), an equilateral triangle (the national colors), a wing (symbol of flight of the 1915 aviation arm), a five-pointed star (victory), and the phrases "Fuerza Aérea Mexicana" and "Salvaguardando el espacio aéreo militar", alongside the 20 of the denomination. No other piece has that combination. Its hard data, from the decree published in the DOF on May 20, 2015: dodecagonal (12 sides), 32.0 mm in diameter, 8.590 g in weight, bimetallic (cupronickel center 75% copper and 25% nickel, aluminum-bronze ring 92% copper, 6% aluminum, and 2% nickel), discontinuous reeded edge, year 2015, in circulation since October 14, 2015. In circulation only the 2015 version exists: any "rare year" or "secret variant" is a tall tale.

As for the value, feet on the ground: the notes claiming "it sells for two million" or "a hundred thousand pesos" are Marketplace listings with absurd prices to attract clicks, not real sales. In our database we place it between 80 and 250 pesos, and the range depends almost entirely on condition. The run-of-the-mill circulated one is very close to its 20-peso nominal value; what raises the price is that it be brand-new, with luster, without stains or knocks on the edge, and the Banxico blister one is the one that approaches the top. It is not scarce like the Toma de Zacatecas or Belisario Domínguez: it is an entry-level piece of the 20-peso commemorative series, good to start with.