Quick Coinage Facts
Years Minted: 1905-1949
Number of Types: 2
Composition: Bronze
Diameter: 20 mm (type 1), 16 mm (type 2)
Weight: 3 grams (type 1), 1.4 grams (type 2)
Total Series Mintage: 471,519,000
Obverse Design: National Arms
Reverse Design: Wreath
Design
The obverse design features the Mexican coat of arms, an eagle clutching a snake while it perches on a prickly pear cactus. On the outer periphery is the phrase “ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS” or as translated to english “United Mexican States”.
The reverse design features the denomination “1C” encircled within a wreath with the year of issue at the top and the mint mark for the Mexico City Mint “Mo” at the bottom of the design.
Types
During 1915 a special set of coinage was minted for the revolutionary forces of Zapata. These issues featured the same design and composition as other centavos except it was smaller in diameter and lighter.
Type 1 – Large Diameter 1905-1949
Type 2 – Zapata 1915
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General Market Notes
Excluding proofs and errors, the key to the series is the 1916 issue and the semi-key is the 1920 issue.
For an undervalued coin look for the 1915 Zapata issues. It is not just the small mintage (only 179,000) but the one year uniqueness that make this coin always in demand.