1939 Mexican 10 Centavos (Cuproníquel): Value & Facts

Most 1939 Mexican 10 centavos coins are worth a few cents to about a dollar. They are not rare: nearly 7 million were struck. The value comes almost entirely from condition, and only a sharp, uncirculated example climbs into the 25 to 30 USD range in 2026.

If you inherited a jar of old Mexican change, this is one of the coins you will see most often. Here is what it actually is, what it sells for, and how to check whether yours is worth setting aside.

What you actually have

The 1939 10 centavos belongs to the Calendario Azteca series (Aztec Calendar), struck in cuproníquel from 1936 to 1946. "Centavos" are the fractional coins of the Mexican peso, the equivalent of cents. This one has no silver in it, so it has no melt value. Everything it is worth is numismatic, based on how well it survived.

The coin is easy to identify:

• Weight: 5.5 grams
• Diameter: 23.5 mm
• Edge: plain (smooth)
• Metal: cuproníquel, 80% copper and 20% nickel
• Obverse: the Mexican national coat of arms (eagle on a cactus with a serpent) and the legend Estados Unidos Mexicanos
• Reverse: the outer ring of the Piedra del Sol (the Aztec Sun Stone, often called the Aztec Calendar), with the denomination "10 centavos," the year, and the mint mark M in the center

That mint mark M stands for the Casa de Moneda de México, the Mexico City Mint.

A note on size (this trips people up)

There is a much smaller Mexican 10 centavos, only about 15 mm across and roughly 1.5 grams, but that is a different coin struck between 1974 and 1980. If your coin is tiny, thin, and weighs about a gram and a half, you do not have the 1939 piece. The genuine 1939 issue is a solid coin: 23.5 mm and 5.5 grams.

How much is a 1939 10 centavos worth?

The date is common, so grade is the only thing that moves the price. A worn coin from a dealer bin is pocket change. An uncirculated example with full detail and original luster is where the real money sits, and even then we are talking tens of dollars, not hundreds.

Grade	What it looks like	Value (USD, approx.)
Circulated, worn	Flat details, no shine	Under 1 USD
Very Fine (VF)	Clear design, moderate wear	1 to 2 USD
Extremely Fine (XF)	Sharp detail, light wear	3 to 5 USD
Uncirculated (MS)	Full detail, original luster	7 to 30 USD

These are reference ranges (Numista and general market data). Certified high-grade examples from NGC or PCGS in top Mint State grades can sell above these figures, but that requires a genuinely pristine coin, which is exactly what is hard to find in a series that circulated heavily.

Is it rare?

No. Mexico struck 6,920,000 of these in 1939 alone. They show up constantly in lots, dealer inventories, and inherited coin jars. Being from before World War II does not make it valuable; plenty of survivors exist. What is genuinely scarce is a 1939 coin that never wore down, because these were spent every day.

The whole series ran across eight dates: 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1945, and 1946. Collectors who chase the set know that finding each year in high grade is the actual challenge, not finding the coins at all.

The coins people think are worth a fortune (and this isn't one)

A common belief is that any pre-war coin is a windfall. For most Mexican fractional coins of this era, including the 1939 10 centavos, that is not true. High mintage plus heavy circulation equals low value in worn grades. If a listing claims a common 1939 10 centavos is worth hundreds of dollars in average condition, it is either wildly overpriced or describing a certified top-grade example that is nothing like a typical find.

The Mexican coins that actually break records are silver and gold pieces with tiny mintages or historic significance, not fractional cuproníquel from the 1930s. If you want to know which Mexican coins genuinely command high prices, that is a separate list worth reading.

How to tell if yours is genuine

Counterfeits of a low-value common coin are rare, but it is still worth a quick check:

1. Weigh it. It should be about 5.5 grams. A digital kitchen scale will do.
2. Measure it. Diameter should be 23.5 mm.
3. Check the reverse. You should see the outer ring of the Aztec Sun Stone with the mint mark M in the center and the year clearly struck.
4. Check the obverse. The national coat of arms with the legend Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

If the weight or diameter is far off, you may have a different coin or a fake. When a coin looks unusually sharp and you think it might be a valuable Mint State example, professional grading by NGC or PCGS settles both authenticity and grade at once.

Where to sell it

Because the coin is common, you sell it the same way you would any circulated foreign coin: to collectors and dealers who buy in bulk or by date. For a worn example, expect very little. For a genuine uncirculated piece, a specialist buyer is worth the effort. You can use the Pesoteca store directory to find collectors and shops that buy and sell Mexican coins.

Got a jar of old Mexican centavos and not sure which ones are keepers? Post clear photos of the best-looking coins in the Pesoteca forum and we will help you sort the common ones from anything actually worth grading.

Centavo coins form the base of the Mexican monetary system. Banxico has modified their diameters, materials and alloys several times over the last decades to optimize minting costs. The 10 centavos Cupronickel piece struck in 1939 belongs to the Banxico Numismatic Collection catalog documented on its official site.

For Mexican collectors, centavo pieces have value when they capture a material change, a die error or an atypically low mintage. Banxico publishes the annual mintages in CM10 starting from the year 2000. For earlier pieces the data may not be available. This entry follows the convention of the PSM System, one ID per distinct physical piece, not per shared design.