If there's one coin in my stack that embodies history, culture, beauty, and personal sentiment all at once, it’s my 1982 1oz Mexican Libertad. This isn’t just any coin — it’s the very first in the Libertad bullion series, the inaugural piece from a series that continues to captivate collectors and stackers to this day.
Struck by the legendary Mexican Mint — the oldest mint in the Americas — the 1982 Libertad was Mexico’s bold entrance into the world of modern bullion. It marked the beginning of a national silver series that, even now, stays true to its roots by keeping the design unchanged year after year, apart from the date. There’s something comforting about that consistency. It’s like looking at a timeline of silver, each coin echoing the one before it. But what sets the 1982 Libertad apart is its deeper connection to Mexican heritage. On the obverse stands Winged Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory, the same figure that adorned the gold Centenario back in 1921, commemorating 100 years of Mexican independence. Her image is powerful — partly draped, wings spread, confident, eternal — with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl rising behind her.
The mythology behind those volcanoes is as poetic as the coin itself. A warrior and a princess, doomed to love but separated by fate, turned into mountains by the gods to spend eternity side by side. That imagery — of love, resilience, and a bond that can’t be broken — adds a layer of meaning I never truly appreciated until I held the coin in my hand.
The reverse features the Mexican Coat of Arms: a fierce eagle perched on a cactus, devouring a snake — a symbol of strength, survival, and pride. Surrounding the coin’s edge are the unmistakable words: “1 onza plata pura, 1982, ley .999.” A promise of purity, struck in brilliant uncirculated condition, and housed in its own flip to preserve the shine of its legacy.
As the years go by, the 1982 Libertad only grows in significance for me. It reminds me why I fell in love with silver in the first place