S. W. writes: Hi Doc, I have a 24k mexican gold coin, is date 1955, on the face side stamp cinco pesos, m, 1955. On the tail side is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, I just wonder, is any value of this coin, if it does, how much it will be, I took it to a shop, and they told me this coin only have gold value, Please let me know. Thanks.
The dealer was correct. In the 19th and 20th century most gold coins were far too much money to carry around for spending money. Instead, they were units of currency by which countries paid their debts to each other. In the post 1970 financial world, gold coins became a way of holding gold. Many trade unit pieces were “restruck”, that is, minted again but with a previous year’s date. A 1955 Five pesos (cinco pesos) is a bullion related coin whose price fluctuates with the price of gold.
Note that few gold coins, except for some modern pieces such as the Canada Maple Leaf, are struck in pure gold. Most gold coins range in fineness from .500 fine (less than 14K) to about 22 Kt. Mexico 5 pesos of this period are .920 fine or slightly better than 22 Kt.
To find the approximate current value of a 1955 Mexico 5 pesos multiply the gold content (.121 pure gold troy ounce) against the world price of gold in dollars. See the CoinSite Precious Metals Page for current gold values.
