Libertad (coin)

The Libertad coins are silver and gold bullion coins originating from Mexico and minted by the La Casa de Moneda de México (Mexican Mint). The Mexican Mint was established in 1535 and is the oldest mint in the Americas. The modern coins contain 99.9% silver or gold (.999 fineness) and are available in various sizes. Both metal coins have undergone a design change. In 1989, 3,500 ​¹⁄₄ ounce Libertad platinum coins were produced. Libertads are devoid of face value, yet are still accepted as currency and guaranteed by Banco de México based on the market value of its gold or silver content.

Silver Libertad

Mexico
Mass	31.1 g (1.0 troy oz)
Diameter	40 mm (1.58 in)
Thickness	3.0 mm (0.12 in)
Edge	Reeded
Composition	99.9% Ag
Years of minting	1982-present
Obverse
Design	Coat of arms of Mexico with 10 past versions of this symbol surrounding it.
Design	1982-1999 version showing the coat of arms of Mexico
Reverse
Design	Three-quarter side view of the Angel of Independence with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl in the background
Design	1982-1995 version showing frontal view of the Angel of Independence with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl

In addition to the bullion version, a proof and reverse proof versions for both metals are manufactured specifically for collectors. Proof coins contain a frosted angel with a polished background. A reverse proof is the opposite and has a polished angel with a frosted background. An antique finish is available in silver and is also sought out by collectors. An antique finish gives coins an aged appearance without any loss of detail. The antiqued finish usually displays portions that look as if they have toned darker. Proof and antique finish coins are minted in relatively small quantities and are considered more beautiful and valuable than the standard bullion coin.

Design

Obverse: The Coat of arms of Mexico is shown with a Mexican golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. This imagery relates to the founding of Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City. The coat of arms is rooted in the legend where the god Huitzilopochtli told the Aztec people where to build their city where they saw an eagle eating a snake on top of a cactus.[1] The bottom half of the coat of arms has oak and laurel leaves encircling the eagle. The top half has the words Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States) encircling the eagle. The gold obverse has not changed since its inception and the silver coin had the same obverse at its inception. In 2000, the silver obverse was changed to depict the current Mexican national coat of arms along with 10 past versions of this symbol surrounding it. The Spanish inscription ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS still surrounds the central coat of arms.[2] The past version of the symbol at the top is found in the Codex Mendoza from 1524.

Reverse: The design used was based on the 1921 gold Centenario, a coin issued to mark the centennial of Mexican independence. The winged Victoria of Angel of Independence is in front with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl in the background. The weight (ONZA or ounce), date, and purity are also listed. The older Libertad coins show a front-facing view of the angel. The new Libertad series shows a three-quarter side profile of the angel. The gold used the older angel from 1981 through 1999. The silver used the older angel from 1982 through 1995.[2]

Specifications

Gold coins have not changed sizes since first minted. From 1982 through 1995, the one, ​¹⁄₂, and ​¹⁄₄ ounce silver coins had slightly smaller diameters and bigger thicknesses than current minted coins. From 1981 through 1990, the gold coins contained 90% gold (.90 fineness). The gold coins since 1991 and all silver coins have contained 99.9% silver or gold. (.999 fineness).[3][4]

Current specifications[3][5]
Composition	Weight (troy oz)	Weight (grams)	Diameter (mm)	Thickness (mm)
Silver	32.15	1000	110	11.5
	5	155.5	65	5.4
	2	62.2	48	4.5
	1	31.1	40	3.0
	​^1⁄2	15.56	33	2.35
	​^1⁄4	7.8	27	1.7
	​^1⁄10	3.11	20	1.4
	​^1⁄20	1.56	16	1.0
Gold	1	31.1	34.5	2.5
	​^1⁄2	15.56	29	1.8
	​^1⁄4	7.8	23	1.3
	​^1⁄10	3.1	16	1.3
	​^1⁄20	1.56	13	.65

Silver mintage

Angel of Independence

Seal of the Government of Mexico

Mintage of silver uncirculated coins[6][7]

Year	​^1⁄20 oz	​^1⁄10 oz	​^1⁄4 oz	​^1⁄2 oz	1 oz	2 oz	5 oz	1 kg
1982					1,049,680
1983					1,001,768
1984					1,014,000
1985					2,017,000
1986					1,699,426
1987					500,000
1988					1,500,500
1989					1,396,500
1990					1,200,000
1991	50,017	50,017	50,017	50,618	1,650,518
1992	295,783	299,933	104,000	119,000	2,458,000
1993	100,000	100,000	90,500	90,500	1,000,000
1994	90,100	90,100	90,100	90,100	400,000
1995	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	500,000
1996	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000	280,001	50,000	20,000
1997	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000	119,999	15,000	10,000
1998	6,400	6,400	6,400	6,400	67,000	7,000	3,500
1999	8,001	8,000	7,000	7,000	95,000	5,000	2,800
2000	57,500	27,500	21,000	20,000	396,400	7,500	4,000
2001	25,000	25,000	25,000	20,000	768,600	6,700	4,000
2002	45,000	35,000	35,000	35,000	955,000	8,700	5,200	1,820(pl)
2003	50,000	20,000	22,000	28,000	678,869	9,500	6,000	1,514(pl)
2004	30,000	15,000	15,000	20,000	560,412	8,000	3,923	1,501(pl)
2005	15,000	9,277	15,000	10,000	600,007	3,549	2,401	500(pl)
2006	20,000	15,000	15,000	15,000	300,000	5,800	3,000	874(pl)
2007	3,500	3,500	3,500	3,500	200,000	8,000	3,000	700(pl)
2008	7,000	10,000	9,000	9,000	950,000	17,000	9,000	2,003 1,700(pl)
2009	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	1,650,000	46,000	21,000	4,000 1,700(pl)
2010	12,000	12,000	15,500	20,000	1,000,000	14,000	9,500	4,000 1,500(pl)
2011	15,000	15,000	15,000	30,000	1,200,000	14,000	10,000	6,000 1,000(pl)
2012	0	3,300	16,700	17,000	746,400	18,600	10,400	2,300 500(pl)
2013	13,500	18,900	9,600	24,500	774,100	17,400	9,500	400(pl)
2014	5,700	6,350	6,950	23,000	429,200	9,000	6,400	500(pl)
2015	18,400	19,900	17,900	16,000	903,000	20,100	9,500	2,000 500(pl)
2016	22,900	24,400	17,700	30,900	1,437,500	17,600	11,400	2,000 800(pl)
2017	8,550	8,850	8,100	9,050	636,000	8,900	5,050	200 500(pl) 1,000(ehrpl)
2018	17,900	20,300	18,000	15,500	300,000	20,400	16,600	500 1,000(pl)
2019	7,350	7,200	5,450	8,500	402,000	18,300	18,000	200 500(pl)
2020	5,450	6,100	4,450	7,600	300,000	5,500	8,900	500 250(pl)

Silver proof mintage

Reverse proof Libertad

Antique finish Libertad

(p) Proof
(rp) Reverse proof
(af) Antique finish

Mintage of silver proof coinage[8][7][9]

Year	​^1⁄20 oz	​^1⁄10 oz	​^1⁄4 oz	​^1⁄2 oz	1 oz	2 oz	5 oz
1983					998
1986					30,006
1987					12,000
1988					10,000
1989					10,000
1990					10,000
1991					10,000
1992	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000	10,000
1993	5,002	5,002	5,002	5,002	5,002
1994	5,002	5,002	5,002	5,002	5,002
1995	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000
1996	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	2,000	1,200	1,200
1997	800	800	800	800	1,500	1,300	1,300
1998	300	300	300	2,500	500	400	400
1999	600	600	600	600	600	280	100
2000	900	1,000	700	700	1,600	500	500
2001	1,500	1,500	1,000	1,000	2,000	500	600
2002	2,800	2,800	2,800	2,800	3,800	1,000	1,000
2003	4,400	4,900	3,900	3,400	5,400	800	1,500
2004	2,700	2,500	2,500	2,500	3,000	1,000	800
2005	2,600	3,000	2,400	2,800	3,300	600	1,000
2006	3,300	3,000	2,900	2,900	4,000	1,100	700
2007	4,000	4,000	3,000	1,500	5,800	500	500
2008	3,300	5,000	2,900	2,500	11,000	1,000	900
2009	5,000	5,000	3,000	3,000	10,000	6,200	5,000
2010	10,000	10,000	5,000	5,000	10,000	1,300	2,000
2011	10,000	10,000	5,000	5,000	10,000	1,000	2,000
2012					4,200
2013	4,200	4,100	3,200	3,000	9,100	1,300	1,600
2014	1,850	1,950	1,700	1,750	4,700	750	800
2015	5,500	5,300	2,400	2,500	6,400 (p)	1,300	1,600
					1,500 (rp)
2016	12,550	12,650	9,550	13,150	13,250 (p)	3,950	2,750
					1,500 (rp)
2017	9,050	7,850	4,850	12,750	8,650 (p)	3,050 (p)	2,350 (p)
					1,050 (rp)	2,000 (rp)	2,000 (rp)
2018	7,900	6,500	5,000	7,000	10,000 (p)	5,000 (p)	5,000 (p)
					1,500 (rp)	2,100 (rp)	2,100 (rp)
					40,000 (af)	2,000 (af)	2,000 (af)
2019	3,000	3,600	2,850	2,000	5,500 (p)	2,750 (p)	2,500 (p)
					1,000 (rp)	1,000 (rp)	1,000 (rp)
					1,000 (af)	1,000 (af)	1,000 (af)
2020	2,800	3,450	2,700	2,000	5,850 (p)	2,800 (p)	2,950 (p)

Gold mintage

Gold Libertad

Mexico
Mass	31.1 g (1.0 troy oz)
Diameter	34.5 mm (1.36 in)
Thickness	2.5 mm (0.099 in)
Composition	99.9% Au
Years of minting	1981-present
Obverse
Design	Coat of arms of Mexico
Reverse
Design	Three-quarter side view of the Angel of Independence with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl in the background

Mintage of gold uncirculated coins[6][7][10]

Year	​^1⁄20 oz	​^1⁄10 oz	​^1⁄4 oz	​^1⁄2 oz	1 oz
1981			313,000	193,000	596,000
1991	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000	109,193
1992	65,225	50,777	28,106	25,220	46,281
1993	10,000	10,000	2,500	2,500	73,881
1994	10,000	10,000	2,500	2,500	1,000
2000	5,300	3,500	2,500	1,500	2,730
2002	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000	15,000
2003	800	300	300	300	500
2004	4,000	2,000	1,500	500	3,000
2005	3,200	500	500	500	3,000
2006	3,000	2,500	1,500	500	4,000
2007	1,200	1,200	500	500	2,500
2008	800	2,500	800	300	800
2009	2,000	9,000	3,000	3,000	6,200
2010	1,500	4,500	1,500	1,500	4,000
2011	2,500	6,500	1,500	1,500	3,000
2012	2,500	6,500	1,500	1,500	3,000
2013	650	2,150	750	450	2,350
2014	1,050	2,450	1,000	1,000	4,050
2015	1,300	4,100	1,300	1,100	4,800
2016	2,900	3,800	1,000	1,200	4,100
2017	1,000	300	500	700	900
2018	2,500	1,500	1,250	1,250	2,050
2019	1,500	1,250	1,500	1,500	2,000
2020	700	700	700	700	1,100

Gold proof mintage

(p) Proof
(rp) Reverse proof

Mintage of gold proof coinage[6][7][10]

Year	​^1⁄20 oz	​^1⁄10 oz	​^1⁄4 oz	​^1⁄2 oz	1 oz
1983					88
1989				704
2004			1,000
2005	400	400	2,600	400	250
2006	520	520	2,120	520	520
2007	500	500	1,500	500	500
2008	500	500	800	500	500
2009	600	600	1,700	600	600
2010	600	600	1,000	600	600
2011	1,100	1,100	2,000	1,100	1,100
2012
2013	300	300	600	300	400
2014	250	250	350	250	250
2015	500	500	500	500	500
2016	2,100	2,100	2,100	2,100	2,100
2017	600	1,500	1,500	700	600
2018	1,000	1,500	1,000	1,000 (p)	1,000 (p)
				1,000 (rp)	1,000 (rp)
2019	1,000	1,000	800	650 (p)	750 (p)
				500 (rp)	500 (rp)
2020	250	250	250	250 (p)	250 (p)
				250 (rp)	250 (rp)

See also

• Bullion coin

References

1. Minahan, James B. (2009). The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems. ABC-CLIO. p. 718. ISBN 9780313344978.
2. "Libertad Design is Not Likely to Change". Coin Week. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
3. "Currency" (in Spanish). Government of Mexico. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
4. "Libertad series silver" (in Spanish). Bank of Mexico. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
5. "Mexican Silver "Libertad"". Goldadvert. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
6. 2020 Standard Catalog of World Coins - 1901–2000 (47th ed.). Krause Publications. 2019. ISBN 978-1-4402-4896-2.
7. 2020 Standard Catalog of World Coins - 2001–Date (14th ed.). Krause Publications. 2019. ISBN 978-1-4402-4897-9.
8. "Silver coins" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2010..
9. Golino, Louis (12 March 2019). "Libertad Coin Series 2019 Programs Surprises". Coin Update. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
10. http://donbailey-mexico.com/libertad_mintages.shtml

External links

• Golino, Louis (1 November 2019). "Collecting the Libertad Coin Series". Coin Update. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
• La Casa de Moneda de México