Sell Mexican Gold Coins for Top Cash in Los Angeles
South Bay Coin buys Centenarios, Aztecas and Hidalgos from sellers across Los Angeles County. Every coin is read and weighed at our Lawndale counter before you are quoted, and you leave paid in the same visit.
The Best Place to Sell Mexican Gold Coins in Los Angeles
If you want to sell Mexican gold coins in Los Angeles, the first thing that should happen at the counter is that somebody tells you what you are actually holding. South Bay Coin is a licensed, bonded and insured precious metals dealer at 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale, and we have been buying gold from Los Angeles County families since 1980.
Mexican gold is one of the most common things carried into a gold counter in this city, and one of the most commonly misread. A centenario pendant, a loose 20 pesos in an envelope and a solid jeweler's copy of the same coin all arrive under the same name. A counter that treats them as one category underpays two of them.
We sort before we quote. Each coin is entered on the slip as its own line and weighed in front of you, so the number you are offered is attached to something you can see. Because we run our own refinery, the gold side of the offer does not pass through a middleman first. Whether you bring one coin, an envelope of gold and silver coins from an estate, or a mixed lot of coins and gold jewelry, the evaluation is free and there is no pressure to sell.
Our Lawndale Showroom
South Bay Coin
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In Los Angeles, Centenario Names Three Different Things
The first is the coin. A 50 pesos struck by the Mexican Mint for the Bank of Mexico, .900 fine, 21.6 karat, holding 37.5 grams of pure gold, with that gold weight printed on its own face as 37.5 Gr. Oro Puro. It is the largest coin in the Mexican peso series and it holds more gold than a standard one ounce bullion coin.
The second is a copy in solid gold. Jewelers across Southern California make and sell these openly, in 10 or 14 karat, and many have no coin inside the frame at all because the whole pendant was cast as one piece. That is genuine gold and we buy it, but it is jewelry gold, not mint gold, and a heavy one sits close enough to the real coin that the difference is not something to judge by hand.
The third is plated. A base metal disc under a thin gold layer, sold as a fashion piece, with nothing inside worth recovering. Two of the three are worth real money and one is not, and you should be told which one is on the scale before anything is added up.
The Date Names a Program, the Weight Sets the Price
Most Mexican gold coins in circulation today carry a date that was frozen. The 50 pesos overwhelmingly reads 1947. The 20 and 10 pesos read 1959, the 5 pesos reads 1955, and the 2.5 and 2 pesos read 1945. Those are real coins from the Mexican Mint, struck later than their dates to meet demand for gold. Published accounts disagree about when each program ran and stopped, which is why we treat a date as the start of a conversation, not a verdict read off a chart.
What does not drift is the gold. Across the modern peso series the denomination is a gold weight in disguise: three quarters of a gram of pure gold for every peso of face value. Fifty pesos is 37.5 grams, twenty is 15 grams, ten is 7.5 grams, and it halves cleanly down to the smallest piece. That rule is why a coin reading 1947 and a coin reading 1959 are priced by the same arithmetic, and why we can price a lot without ranking the dates first.
One caution runs against it. Mexico recoined its gold early in the twentieth century, and pieces struck before that reform can carry a different weight and fineness under the same denomination. The face is a good guide, never the last word, so every coin still goes on the scale.
Centenarios: The Angel Coin
The 50 pesos carries Winged Victory, the Angel of Independence, holding a laurel wreath in one hand and broken chains in the other, with the volcanoes Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl behind her. The reverse carries the national coat of arms. The face pairs 1821, the year of independence, with the coin's own date.
Original strikes ran through the 1920s and early 1930s and again in the 1940s. The 1921 and 1931 coins carry a genuine collector premium, and the 1943 issue is the odd one out: it leaves the denomination off the face entirely and prints the gold weight twice instead. If your coin reads anything other than 1947, bring it in before you sell it as metal.
Aztecas: The Sun Stone Coin
The 20 pesos takes its nickname from the Aztec sun stone, the Piedra del Sol, rendered across the whole reverse with the face of the sun at the center and the day signs ringed around it. Like its larger sibling it declares its own gold content, 15 grams of pure gold, so it tells any counter in any country what it holds.
Nearly every Azteca you will see reads 1959. It is the coin people most often assume is a medal, because the design looks nothing like currency, and the one most likely to be loose in a drawer. The modern Libertad carries the same Angel but is a separate, much later series. We buy those too, priced on their own terms.
Hidalgos: The Smaller Pesos
The 10, 5 and 2.5 pesos carry the portrait of Miguel Hidalgo, the priest who began the war of independence, which is why the trade calls the whole group Hidalgos. The 10 pesos holds half the gold of an Azteca. The 5 holds half of that again, and the 2.5 half again, all the way down.
The smallest of the family, the dos pesos, does not carry Hidalgo at all and is about the size of a shirt button. It is the piece most often mistaken for a token or a charm of no value, and the one left behind when a family sorts an estate. If you are bringing a Centenario, check the small compartments first. These coins are gold at the same rate as the rest of the series.
Mexican Gold Coins We Buy for Cash
We buy the whole peso series in any condition, loose or mounted, one coin or a full envelope. Worn coins are fine, as are coins you cannot identify.
Centenarios, 50 Pesos
Every date, original strikes and restrikes, brilliant or heavily circulated. Single coins and full tubes.
Aztecas, 20 Pesos
The sun stone coin in any year, including the pieces people bring in believing they are medals or tokens.
Hidalgos and Small Pesos
The 10, 5 and 2.5 pesos, plus the button sized 2 pesos that is so often overlooked in an estate.
Mounted Coins and Solid Copies
Coins in frames, and solid 10 or 14 karat jeweler's copies. Real gold, bought as gold, difference explained.
Sell Mexican Gold Coins in Three Steps
Visit, Call, or Text
Walk into our Lawndale showroom at 16916 Hawthorne Blvd. No appointment needed. Or call (310) 363-7808 and text us photos of both faces.
Coins Sorted, Then Weighed
We separate mint coins from copies, note any date worth a second look, and weigh each piece in front of you before quoting.
Get Paid Immediately
Accept the offer and take payment before you leave. Most visits run about 15 minutes. Bring a valid photo ID.
South Bay Coin vs. Other Gold Coin Buyers
Mexican gold reaches four different kinds of buyer in Los Angeles, and only one sorts a mint coin from a jeweler's copy before naming a price.
| Feature | South Bay Coin | Jewelry Counters | Mail-In Buyers | Pawn Shops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tells you which of the three you have | Yes | Sometimes | No | Rarely |
| Prices a mint coin as a coin | Yes | Rarely | Varies | Rarely |
| Buys solid gold copies as gold | Yes | Yes | Varies | Sometimes |
| Original dates checked before a metal price | Yes | No | No | No |
| Each coin weighed in front of you | Yes | Sometimes | No | Sometimes |
| Coins never leave your sight | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Outright purchase, never a loan | Yes | Varies | Yes | No |
| Firm buy price posted before seeing the coin | No | No | Yes | No |
| Prepaid insured shipping label | No | No | Yes | No |
| Licensed CA dealer at one address since 1980 | Yes | Varies | Varies | Varies |
What Our Customers Say
Common Questions About Selling Mexican Gold Coins
Where can I sell Mexican gold coins in Los Angeles?
South Bay Coin buys Mexican gold coins at 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale, open Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM. No appointment needed. We sort mint coins from copies, weigh each piece in front of you, and pay before you leave.
How much gold is in a 50 peso Centenario?
A 50 pesos holds 37.5 grams of pure gold at .900 fineness, which is 21.6 karat. That is more gold than a standard one ounce bullion coin, and the coin prints the figure on its own face. Your offer tracks that weight against the live market on the day you sell.
Why do so many Mexican gold coins say 1947?
Because the Mexican Mint kept striking 50 pesos coins with the 1947 date long after 1947, to meet demand for gold rather than for circulation. They are genuine coins, not counterfeits. The same practice froze other denominations at 1959, 1955 and 1945, so a repeated date across a group is normal.
Is my Centenario real if there is no coin inside the frame?
It is real gold, but it is not a coin. Many pendants sold in Southern California are cast as one solid piece in 10 or 14 karat, with the design and the frame formed together. We buy those, priced as jewelry gold on their own weight, and we will show you why yours reads that way.
How can I tell a real Mexican gold coin from a copy?
Weight and detail are the honest checks, and neither is reliable by hand. A mint coin prints its gold content on the face and matches a known weight exactly. A solid copy usually sits under that weight, though a heavy one comes close. Bring it in rather than guessing from a photo.
Do you buy gold plated Centenario pendants?
Generally no. A plated or laminado piece is base metal under a gold layer far too thin to recover, so there is nothing to pay for. We will tell you that for free rather than make an offer you should not take. If the chain it hangs on is solid gold, that part we buy.
Is a 20 peso Azteca worth more than a 10 peso Hidalgo?
Yes, and by a predictable amount. Across the modern peso series each coin carries three quarters of a gram of gold for every peso of face value, so a 20 pesos holds 15 grams and a 10 pesos holds 7.5 grams. The 20 is worth double the 10 on metal alone.
Are older Mexican gold coins worth more than restrikes?
Sometimes. Most peso coins trade on their gold content whatever the date, but a few early original strikes carry a collector premium above metal, particularly the first year and a scarce date from the early 1930s. We check dates before quoting, which costs nothing and occasionally changes the number.
Do I have to report selling Mexican gold coins?
Dealer reporting rules and your own tax position are separate questions, and published guidance on gold coin reporting was revisited recently, so practice varies across the trade. We follow current requirements for our own filings. For what a sale means on your return, please speak with your tax advisor.
Should I take my coin out of its bezel before selling?
No. Leave it as it is and let us look first. On a common restrike there is no collector premium to protect, so the frame is simply weighed as its own gold line beside the coin. On an early date it matters more, and nothing gets removed without you standing there.
Ready to Sell Your Mexican Gold Coins?
Walk in with no appointment, or text us photos of both faces for a free estimate before you make the drive. Immediate payment.
