Quick Coinage Facts
Years Minted: 1985-1988
Composition: Brass
Diameter: 17 mm
Weight: 3 grams (approximate)
Total Mintage: 188,500,000
Obverse Design: National Arms
Reverse Design: Denomination
Introduction
By the mid 1980’s hyperinflation was quickly eroding the value of the peso and impacting the cost of minting coinage. It was longer profitable to produce 5 pesos coinage on the larger (27 mm) copper-nickel planchet.
In response the Mexico City Mint issued a new 5 pesos coin on a dramatically smaller planchet (17 mm) and at a third of the weight of the previous Quetzalcoatl series.
Design
The obverse design features the Mexican coat of arms, an eagle clutching a snake while it perches on a prickly pear cactus. In an arc around the design is the phrase “ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS”.
The reverse design features a simplistic design of the denomination “$5” and mint mark “Mo” for the Mexico City Mint.
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General Market Notes
All years were made in large mintages making them affordable and easy to obtain.