Mexico 1939-M 50 centavos
The first specimen was lot 73263 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, June 2020), where it sold for $408. The catalog description[1] noted, "MEXICO. 50 Centavos, 1939-M. Mexico City Mint. PCGS MS-67 Gold Shield. Incredibly difficult to encounter this attractive, the present specimen is tied with just two others at the top of the PCGS population report. Lustrous and largely untoned, with one minor spot of burnt sienna on the reverse." This fifty centavos piece was struck 1919-21, 1925, 1937-39, 1942-45. It replaced the fifty centavo piece struck 1918-19. The "0.720" was added to the reverse to distinguish this type from earlier issues. The older coin was 9.06 g, 0.800 fine. It, in turn, was replaced by a billon fifty centavos piece in 1950.
Recorded mintage: 10,440,000.
Specification: 8.33 g, 0.720 fine silver, 27 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 447.
- Amaya Guerra, Carlos Abel, Epitome Ilustrado de la Moneda Mexican Moderna, 1905 a 2015, Monterrey, Mexico, 2015.
- Bailey, Don and Lois, Whitman Encyclopedia of Mexican Money, Volume 1, An Illustrated History of Mexican Coins and Currency, Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2014.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Buttrey, T. V., and Clyde Hubbard, A Guide Book of Mexican Coins, 1822 to date, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1992.
- Harris, Robert P., A Guide Book of Modern Latin American Coins, Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing Co., 1966.
- Utberg, Neil S., The Coins of Mexico, 1536-1963, San Antonio, TX, 1963.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The May 2020 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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