Puebla 2 Reales

In 1824, the Puebla mint issued 2 Reales coins that directly replaced Spanish designs with Mexico's new coat of arms, featuring an eagle perched on a cactus.

These silver coins, weighing around 6.8 grams, were struck from locally sourced bullion amid the fledgling republic's economic scramble. The obverse bore the denomination and date, while the reverse swapped out the old Bourbon symbols for the national emblem, a deliberate nod to independence without much fanfare. Assayers marked them with a "P" for Puebla, ensuring traceability in a time of transition.

Edge varieties could be reeded or plain, depending on the die used that year. Mintage records for 1825, however, vanished in later archival fires, so precise numbers remain a mystery.

Plenty of these turn up with circulation wear, as if they'd rather stay out of display cases.