The modern summer Olympics were started in 1896 in Athens, Greece in the Panathenaic Stadium. A beautiful venue and the competition was very successful and every four years thereafter the games were to be held at selected cities. However the games struggled in Paris in 1900 and St Louis in 1904. In the 1904 the winner of the marathon was disqualified after pictures revealed him riding in a car during the race. That cheater sure didn't prosper!
In 1906 in Athens, Greece they did a bit of a revival event which saved the Olympics. Then the Winter Olympics were added in 1908 in addition to the Summer games.
Now jumping forward to 1968 when Mexico City, México was awarded the games beating out Detroit (Michigan), Lyon (France), and Buenos Aires (Argentina). Yes, they beat Detroit. Most countries in modern times have all produced commemorative coins to celebrate their winning Olympic bid. México was no different and produced this beautiful silver work of art!
About the coin:
Country: United States of México
Mint : Casa de Moneda de México
Year: 1968
Denomination: 25 Pesos
Mintage: 27,182,000
Composition: 72% silver/ 28% copper
Diameter: 38 mm
Weight: 22.5 grams
Thickness: 2.65 mm
Demonetized: yes
Edge: Smooth inscribed with lettering: INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD ( Independence and Liberty)
Obverse: Mexican coat of arms (eagle on a prickly pear cactus eating a rattlesnake) with lettering: ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS, LEY 0.720 Mo, 25 Pesos (United States of México, Law 0.720, Mexican Mint, 25 Pesos
Reverse: Aztec ball player below above Olympic rings with lettering: JUEGOS DE LA XIX OLIMPIADA MEXICO 1968 (19th Olympic Games México 1968)
I've always liked the obverse of these coins with the eagle. That was a beautiful engraving they produced. The reverse is nice too, but the eagle is the star of the show in my opinion. Every time I've shared a Mexican coin with an eagle sitting on a prickly pear cactus it just didn't seem very realistic to me. I've had prickly pear cacti in my yard before and they have very sharp and nasty needles. Most prickly pear cactus look like the one below and landing on it would be precarious. So I looked for pictures of eagle on cacti and found a bald eagle nesting on a saguaro cactus. None on prickly pears though. But I guess it can be done, those eagles would have to be very agile not to get impaled on those needles!
thespruce.com
Prickly Pear cactus
sciphysics.com
Bald eagle nesting on a saguaro cacuts
Now back to the coin, it's a great collectors piece and at 72% silver not too bad for the silver stackers out there. I picked this coin up at a coin shop in Phoenix years ago and it wasn't to much above silver spot at the time. The premiums may have increased in the last few years though, I haven't priced them in quite awhile, but a very cool coin with an awesome eagle on it!
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate everyone's support, the Hive community is the best! If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments please feel free to leave them below. Thanks again!
Keep on stacking!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
All pictures are mine unless otherwise noted
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Summer_Olympics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces3855.html
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 27 people re-blog my post, thank you so much! You guy are the best! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it:
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Congratulations !
You will receive 3 HSBI!
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win 3 HSBI units! Just one prize for the lucky winner. An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prize. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.