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The History of Mexican Coins

Prehispanic exchange media

Prehispanic Mexico had a well-organized tax and commercial exchange system with several exchange media. Cacao, the most accepted and widespread, was used for accounts and charges in lots of twenty. Also used were jade beads or jadeita, known as chalchihuis, coarse cotton blankets or patolcauchtli, duck feather quills filled with gold powder, and hatchets or copper shears in the shape of the Greek letter tau.

The use of cacao as both food and money made it so valuable that it was counterfeited. Bulk cacao payments were often altered using lower-quality cacao, or part of the cacao grain content was even removed and replaced with mud. Nonetheless, cacao was the most widespread and accepted medium of exchange in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean.

Coins in the viceroyalty

In the first third of the sixteenth century, with the Spanish conquest of continental America, European monetary practices, in which only metal coins were legal tender, began to be implemented. Nevertheless, the scarcity of metals in Europe hindered the exportation of coins. Thus, during the first stage of the conquest, the Spaniards adapted to indigenous practices. In fact, cacao survived as an exchange medium in some places in southeastern Mexico well into the nineteenth century.

While the search for precious metals following the initial plunder continued, the practice of using other exchange media allowed the Spaniards to collect a large quantity of “rescued” gold and silver. Using these metals, they made the first attempts to emulate European metal coins. Discs of a gold and copper alloy (tepuzque pesos) were cast, their weight corresponding to the Spanish currency, the castellano. This resulted, years later, in the origin of the monetary unit of Mexico and other Latin American countries, the peso.

The discovery of the territories´ mineral wealth changed colonial perspectives, and very soon the growth of trade in New Spain made the establishment of a mint necessary. In 1535, when the Viceroyalty of New Spain was officially established, Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza received the permit for the founding of the Mint of Mexico with the following mandate from King Charles I and Queen Juana: "Y PÓNGASE EN LA PARTE DONDE HOBIERE LA DEVISA DE LAS COLUNAS UNA M LATINA, PARA QUE SE CONOZCA QUE SE HIZO EN MEXICO" (“AND LET A LATIN M BE PLACED WHERE THE COLUMNS ARE DIVIDED TO REVEAL THAT IT WAS MADE IN MEXICO”). The first coins were apparently cast in April 1536.

The  Charles and Juana coins
Charles I - Philip II(1536 - 1572)

The first coins minted in Mexico were the Charles and Juana coins, thus labeled due to the names of the royals appearing on them in Latin (CAROLUS ET JOHANA REGES). They were made by hand with a hammer. Nonetheless, they had an even thickness, they were rounded, and handsome. Silver coins in denominations of four, three, two, one, and one-half reales were cast. Copper coins were also minted in denominations of four and two maravedíes, but their manufacture was suspended due to the rejection of this metal by the indigenous peoples. Two series of the coins are known: The first usually bore an inscription in gothic letters, whereas the second was distinguished by the use of Latin characters, and on the back, ocean waves between the columns of Hercules. On the front was the coat of arms of Castile, León and Granada (with quadrants divided among castles and lions, and with a pomegranate in the lower rosette). The inscription was completed on the back and meant, "Charles and Juana, rulers of Spain and the Indies." On the back were the two crowned columns of Hercules, united by a tablet displaying the motto PLUS ULTRA.

Macuquina coins
Philip II - Philip V (1st period) (1572 - 1732)

Thanks to the abundance of metals, increased demand for coins due to the opening of sea-lanes to the East could be met. The greater demand, unaccompanied by technical improvements in the minting process, led to roughly manufactured, unattractive coins. These coins were cast in pieces of metal of irregular shape and thickness, but with the prescribed fine metal content. The macuquina coin was minted from the reign of Philip II to the first reign of Philip V. The name comes from the Arab term macuch, meaning approved or sanctioned.

During the reign of Philip III, coins began to bear the mint date, 1607 being the most remote date documented in the numismatic collection of the Banco de México. Although supposedly it was forbidden to mint gold, the production of gold coins (also macuquino type coins) began in 1679, during the reign of the last Habsburg, Charles II, who, due to lack of heirs, was succeeded by Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XVI.

With the change in royal house, numismatics also saw changes as Philip V attempted to improve minting through technological advances. During this first reigning period, the currency minted was the macuquino type; when the king found out that his first-born was about to die, he abdicated so that his son Louis I occupied the throne for several months during 1724. When Louis I died, his father recovered the crown and ordered the posthumous minting of the Louis I coins, extremely rare coins which are today among the scarcest of those minted during the viceroyalty. Philip V also tested the minting of well-manufactured transitional coins. However, the coins still lacked a protective cord, nor were they rounded; they were known as trimmed.

Rounded coins: columnarios (1732-1772) and peluconas (1732-1759)
Philip V - Charles III (1732 - 1772)

Beginning in 1732, during the second reign of Philip V, the steering-wheel press was introduced, allowing the manufacture of rounded coins with a protective cord. During the eighteenth century, silver coins known as columnarios or “coins of worlds and seas” were minted. On the back of the coins are two hemispheres set on sea waves and united by a great crown between two columns (also crowned); around this is the inscription UTRAQUE UNUM (“Both are one”). The coins of this period are perhaps the best in terms of design. To excellent Mexican minting are added the coins´ magnificent craftsmanship and beauty, which helped make Mexican coins the most important international payment medium at the time.

The gold coins bear the image of the king in armor and a large wig (peluca), the kind in fashion during the Age of Enlightenment, which is why they were called peluconas.

Rounded busted coins
Charles III – Ferdinand VII (1772 - 1821)

In 1771, Charles III changed the type of silver coins minted and the following year, the first coins known as bust coins appeared, named for the bust of the monarch on the front. As for the gold coins, the wig engravings were abandoned, bringing the design closer to that of the silver coins.

Given the need for fractional currency, during the reign of Ferdinand VII the quarter-real in silver and the half-escudo in gold were introduced. Copper minting was resumed in denominations of two-quarters, one-quarter, and one-eighth real coins.

Due to the demand for coins inside and outside New Spain, two reforms reduced the fine metal content of the coins minted in Mexico slightly. This change was accepted without problems in local and international markets.

The last monarchs who ruled New Spain, Charles IV and Ferdinand VII, were faced with the decline of the Spanish Empire relative to other European powers. This, combined with internal conflicts caused by social inequalities and the Crown’s authoritarian regime, led to Mexico's independence.

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