Mexican Peso Gold Coins: Everything You Need to Know About the 50 Pesos Gold Coin

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The largest bullion coin ever produced by the famed La Casa de Moneda de Mexico, or Mexico Mint, proves to be the 50 pesos gold coin. Aside from its face value, this rare coin has very little to do with its bank note counterpart, the 50 peso note—which happened to win the 2021 Bank Note of the Year Award. At 20 percent larger size than the comparable American Gold Eagle coin, this stellar coin is an efficient way to add substantial gold to your holdings with only a single piece purchase.

Mexican Peso Gold Coins Background and History

As far as Mexican gold coins go, coin collectors and investors alike have always liked the larger Mexican 50 peso denominations. They are affectionately referred to as “centenarios” because of their anniversary which corresponds with the hundred year memorial of independence from Spain that Mexico secured at last in 1821. These beautiful and historically important pieces were designed by Emilio del Moral.

They were first issued from 1921 to 1931, then once again from 1943 to 1972 by the Mexican Mint due to their overwhelming popularity.

La Casa de Moneda de Mexico has struck Mexican coins since 1535, the year when Spanish Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza first established the venerable institution. This remains the original and oldest mint facility and establishment in the Americas. The stunning 50 Pesos Gold coins feature important symbols from the Colonial and Mesoamerican eras of the country.

Because of the popularity of these centenario gold coins, the Mexican Mint restarted its production of the coins from 1943 to 1972. In fact, the Mexican Mint produced a whopping 4 million of them during this period.

The overwhelming majority of these reissued Pesos were minted with a 1947 restrike year. The Banco de Mexico authorized them all to be official legal tender, a status they retain to this day. These coins were issued in Brilliant Uncirculated condition originally and now come in a condition range of from Almost Uncirculated to Brilliant Uncirculated.

Mexican Peso Gold Coins Physical Characteristics

There are various denominations of Mexican Peso Gold coins. These include:

• 50 pesos at 1.2057 troy ounces
• 20 pesos at .4823 troy ounces
• 10 pesos at .2411 troy ounces
• five pesos at .1205 troy ounces
• 2.5 pesos at .0602 troy ounces
• two pesos at .0482 troy ounces

The most popular and heavily minted are the 50 Pesos gold coins. These are also the largest of the Mexican Gold coins ever produced.

Coin Design

The front side of all coins is known as the obverse.  The obverse of the 50 Pesos Gold coins highlights the image of Winged Victory, the beloved angel of independence, holding a laurel wreath within her right hand and the broken chains of colonialism within her left hand. In the background, two important Mexican volcanoes rise, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihautl. In the lower left, the year 1821 is inscribed as the year of the independence of Mexico. The actual mintage year is displayed prominently on the right.

The back side of the coins is always referred to as the “reverse.” The coin reverse boasts the famed Mexican Coat of Arms. It is represented by an eagle which perches on a cactus and carries a serpent within its beak. Almost four million of these coins were struck in the second series from 1949 to 1972. The overwhelming majority of them were struck with a 1947 date. These are known as “restrikes.” Earlier 50 Peso coins come with higher premiums than do these restrikes. Coins made in the 1921 to 1931 years carry significantly heftier premiums over gold prices.

Specifications

The 50 Pesos Mexican Gold coins are the most popular the country's Mexico City National Mint ever struck and released. Their specifications are as follows:

• Mass:  1.2057 troy oz
• Diameter: 37.1 mm
• Thickness:  2.69 mm
• Content: 1.085 troy oz. actual gold content
• Purity: 90.0% gold, 10% copper alloy

Mexican Peso Gold Coins Pricing

Mexican peso gold coins were issued as legal tender in the Republic of Mexico. Their face values varied from two pesos all the way on up to 50 pesos. While these coins could easily be spent for everyday purchases in Mexico, no one would dare to trade them so cheaply in practice. The explanation is that the intrinsic value of these beautiful bullion coins is dramatically higher than the limited face value implies. Actual value of these lovely coins comes from primarily the spot price of gold and secondarily from the relevant supply and demand levels.

In truth it is this intrinsic value that makes the market value of these coins and gives the retirement and investment portfolios which contain them their value. These coins come with a fairly substantial premium to spot gold prices. The reasoning has to do with their popular collectible traits. The premium is also explained by the costs of mining such coins and releasing them into circulation.

True market value of these bullion pieces goes up and down every market trading day alongside the constantly floating price of gold. For an accurate read on the value of these 50 peso coins, you can navigate to our up-to-the-minute gold price page.

Can IRA Accounts Contain Mexican Peso Gold Coins?

Despite the fact that these coins are beautiful and larger gold pieces, the IRS does not approve them for inclusion in a precious metals IRA. They fail on the metal purity standard with their only .900 gold fineness that does not measure up to the .995 minimum the IRS requires.

These coins are also considered by tax authorities to be “collectible” in nature as they carry too high of a premium over spot gold prices. Even though you can not house these historical pieces within your precious metals IRAs, they are still excellent means of building up a gold position for investment or retirement purposes. You can buy these coins as they are available from world gold bullion dealers throughout the globe.

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