I have always enjoyed collecting Mexican silver coins from the time I was pretty young. I recall that often they were less expensive than their US counterparts so I would usually pick a few up when I headed to the coin store. When I lived in Arizona I got more serious about collecting them and would pick them up whenever the price was right.

Nowadays, you can't find cheap silver out of Mexico. It's become just as expensive as silver produced elsewhere around the world. This coin was one I found in a jewelry shop in Long Beach, California several years ago. It was just too pretty to leave it behind. Have a look:

About the coin:

From numista.com

I've always loved the design on the obverse (front) of these coins. It's an iconic image of the golden eagle perched atop a prickly pear cactus while eating a rattlesnake. The detailing created by the engraver turned out stunningly. The feathers on the bird, the snake details, and even down to the cactus was well done.

Most importantly the coin is 90% silver, most likely mixed with some copper to make it less prone to wear. As you can see from the value table in Numista, this coin would probably be worth about $40, which is much more than the silver content value.

The reverse (back) of the coin features a depiction of Cuauhtémoc. He was the last real Aztec leader who Cortés had executed on bogus charges, because that's how conquistadors rolled. I talked about him in detail in a post sometime back if you are interested, I left the Wikipedia link in my references as well.

The obverse is what I'll focus on today, at least some elements of it...

Prickly Pear Cactus

The eagle is perched on a prickly pear cactus, which doesn't sound like much fun. Above is a picture of one of the cacti that I took in Arizona at some point. It had a nice flower and this one even had a bee there too if you look closely. But focus on those spines, I have always tended to keep my distance from these, they are nasty to get stabbed on... Eagles are agile and must manage to land on these from time to time, at least so the coin would lead us to believe!

Every year they produce some very good red fruit from those little yellow flowers. You can see some unripe green fruit in the picture above if you look to the left of the flower, the bulbs sticking off the top are the fruit growing. It's delicious and often made into jam or jelly in Arizona and New Mexico. If you ever have a chance to try it, it tastes great

Golden Eagle

wallpaperflare.com

These eagles live in the northern hemisphere pretty much around the world. I did talk a little more about them a couple months back in another post, so you can check it out for more info or the Wikipedia page link in references. They are majestic birds which is why they grace the Mexican coinage.

https://peakd.com/hive-140084/@thebighigg/a-beautiful-golden-eagle-goldnote-kmn

Rattlesnakes

a-z-animals.com

And I don't think I 've ever talked about these ugly ducklings before. Rattlesnakes are a common predator found in the Americas. There are many, many different species, some are more venomous than others. The one thing I have learned throughout my years of gold prospecting and hiking is that if you see a snake, leave it alone. I have known several people who have picked up a "harmless" snake that were in reality rattlesnakes.

Most rattlesnakes do their best to avoid running into humans, but some species are very aggressive. If you do have the misfortune to get bit the best thing to do is go straight to the hospital and don't try to suck out the venom. It doesn't work. All you will do is infect the wound making things even worse. Another good rule when in snake territory (or anywhere outdoors) is never stick your hand somewhere that you can't see.

I met a fellow once who was working on a house and his hammer fell though a hole in the floor. So he reached down to grab it and got a nice rattlesnake bite instead. His hand was left deformed and he can't even really use it now.

Just some advice from a man who has lived in rattlesnake territory for years in the past.

Eagles do eat them frequently as do stray cats interestingly, I guess they're quick enough to not be bitten. Thus the image on the coin of the eagle making dinner of a rattlesnake.

That will wrap things up for today's post. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for taking the time to check it out. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below and thank you for all of your support. It's greatly appreciated. Have a great week everyone!

References:

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces10919.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_eagle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuauht%C3%A9moc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia

Disclaimer:

I am not a financial planner and this isn't financial advice. Please always do your own research before investing your money. You worked hard enough to earn it!

All pictures are mine unless otherwise indicated

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