1905 Mexican 5-centavos

[villa66]

A 1905 Mexican 5-centavo struck in nickel, weighing 5.00g, with a diameter of 20mm. Formerly a small silver piece—this 5-centavo is a first-year coin—new metal, new size, new design. New issuing authority too, no longer styled on its coinage as the “Republic of Mexico,” but instead as the “United States of Mexico” (except, briefly—and interestingly—on its silver 1-peso).

With its 1905 monetary reform Mexico had opted for a gold standard, and as a part of the transition had reduced the value of the peso in terms of gold by about one-half, and decided to make “tokens” of its subsidiary coins by reducing their size and silver content.

In the case of the new 5-centavo it was decided to eliminate silver altogether. It was an obvious choice, really. Decreasing the size of the already tiny (1.35g, 14mm) silver 5-centavo would have made the coin perhaps too inconvenient to use. So nickel provided a handy—and modern—alternative, yielding an attractive coin that was a good fit in terms of its value and size.

There must have been worries, however, about how folks would receive the new “nickel.” After all, the low-value copper-nickel coins of 1882-83 had been thoroughly rejected by the Mexican public. But that seems not to have been the case with the nickel 5-centavo of 1905-1914. The general condition of the survivors suggests considerable use of the type. But there is that particular year, again….1914.

WWI ended the career of this nickel 5-centavo; in 1914 it was replaced by a big (9.00g, 28mm) bronze coin.