Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 20 Centavos 1983-1984, KM# 491, Mexico
  • 20 Centavos 1983-1984, KM# 491, Mexico
Obverse

Depicts the seal of the United Mexican States.

The Seal of the United Mexican States is a modified version of the national coat of arms, with the addition of the full official name of the country Estados Unidos Mexicanos, in a semi-circular accommodation in the upper part of the seal. Current and past Mexican peso coinage have had the seal engraved on the obverse of all denominations.

The coat of arms depicts a Mexican golden eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. To the people of Tenochtitlan this would have strong religious connotations, but to the Europeans, it would come to symbolize the triumph of good over evil (with the snake sometimes representative of the serpent in the Garden of Eden).

ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS

Reverse

Olmec colossal head statue 3/4 right with value below, date right.

The Olmec colossal heads are at least seventeen monumental stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. The heads date from at least before 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature men with fleshy cheeks, flat noses, and slightly crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments often are flat.

cultura olmeca
oM
1983
20¢

Edge

20 Centavos

KM# 491
Characteristics
Material Bronze
Weight 3 g
Diameter 20 mm
Thickness 1.1 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mint
Mexican Mint (Mo)

Related coins

Type 2 National Emblem

Bronze, 9.9 g, ⌀ 28.5 mm
Type 3 National Emblem

Bronze, 10 g, ⌀ 28.5 mm

Cupronickel, 3.02 g, ⌀ 20.1 mm