Echeverria 100 Pesos

These 100 Pesos coins were introduced in 1970 as Mexico's first high-denomination response to rampant inflation under President Echeverría.

They were struck from copper-nickel planchets, a practical choice given the era's metal shortages. The obverse bore the national coat of arms; the reverse, a depiction of the Aztec calendar stone on later issues. Production ran through 1976, with mintages likely in the millions annually, though exact figures were never reliably recorded after a 1980s archive mishap.

Not every collector realizes these coins circulated like pocket change, despite their lofty face value. That said, pristine examples are rarer than you'd think—rust from humid storage doesn't help.