5 Pesos Silver 1947

The 1947 5 pesos silver coin is one of the large, eye-catching pieces of mid twentieth century Mexican numismatics. It was struck in 0.720 fineness silver, weighs 29.92 grams and measures 40 millimeters in diameter, with a reeded edge. It came out of the Casa de Moneda de Mexico (the Mexican Mint), and the obverse carries the profile of Cuauhtemoc, a design that gives it its own character compared to other denominations of the era.

This coin belongs to the series of five peso silver coins that Mexico issued in the 1940s, when high values with real precious metal content still circulated. The portrait of the last Mexica tlatoani (the Aztec ruler) is no minor decoration: it is part of a movement that sought to anchor national iconography in pre-Hispanic roots. Because of its size and weight, it is a piece you can feel in your hand, and one that many collectors use as an entry point into Mexican silver circulating coinage.

For those who collect, the appeal comes from two fronts. On one hand, the silver content always backs it with metal, which gives it a floor value. On the other, in high grades of preservation, with original luster and clean detail in Cuauhtemoc's headdress, the coin gains quite a bit compared to a circulated and worn example. The state of preservation is what makes the real difference in price for this denomination, so it is worth looking at the reliefs and the luster before anything else.

Mexican circulating peso coins from the second half of the 20th century were minted in alloys that changed according to the cost of metals and inflationary processes: .720 silver in denominations $1, $5, $10, $25 during the 1940s-50s; cupronickel from the 1970s on; 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. 1947 corresponds to the period in which this variant was in circulation.