Banco de Londres y México Medal. 100th Anniversary (1964)

This silver medal, of large module, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Banco de Londres y México, the first bank founded in the country.

The institution opened its doors on August 1, 1864, a branch of an English bank, in a turbulent Mexico where Maximilian's empire and Juárez's republic coexisted. It was the first to put banknotes in circulation, in 1865, and over time became part of the commercial banking that endures to this day.

Cataloged by Grove as B-65a, this is the silver variant of the great centennial medal, over seventy millimeters, sister to the gold version. Both celebrate a hundred years of banking in Mexico. These anniversary issues document the national financial history and were struck with the solemnity befitting the occasion.

What it shows

This piece is not a round coin but a rectangular silver plaque. The main face reproduces in relief an old hundred-peso banknote: one reads BANCO DE LONDRES MÉXICO Y SUD AMÉRICA, the promise to pay CIEN PESOS, the serial number 4898, and two seals with the value 100, accompanied by seated allegorical figures. The opposite face bears the bank's monogram between the dates 1864 and 1964, with the engraved legends PRIMER CENTENARIO DEL Banco de Londres y México and PRIMER CENTENARIO DE LA BANCA DE DEPOSITO EN MÉXICO.

Context

The Banco de Londres y México opened its doors on August 1, 1864, and is recognized as the country's first deposit banking institution. In 1964 the bank commissioned this commemorative plaque to celebrate its first centennial, taking one of its historic hundred-peso banknotes as the motif. In catalogs it is identified within the Grove series (reference B-65a) and usually appears with its original case.

Value and collecting

It is not legal-tender currency or a circulating banknote: it is a commemorative silver plaque. Its appeal lies in the metal and, above all, in the state of preservation, since these flat surfaces easily show scratches and toning. If you want to appraise yours or find a buyer, check the directory of shops and share photos of the obverse and reverse in the forum to compare with other centennial pieces.