Numistify guide

Which Guatemalan Coins Are Silver? Silver Content by Year

Guatemala struck silver for a century, first in reales and pesos and then in quetzales and centavos. Here is every silver coin by date, with its fineness and silver content.

Updated October 2026 · tables generated from Numistify’s coin templates

The short answer

The reales and pesos struck under Rafael Carrera, 1859–1869, are .903. From 1869 the peso followed the Latin Monetary Union standard at .900; the smaller coins of the 1870s were mostly .900 too, but from about 1880 most of them are .835. The last silver peso was struck from 1894 to 1897, and the last reales of 1899–1900 dropped to .500 and .600. With the quetzal, from 1925, silver returned at .720: the 1 quetzal of 1925 and the 5, 10 and 25 centavos until 1964. From 1965 Guatemalan coins are base metal.

Guatemalan silver coins by year

Not every coin is listed. This table is for reference: it covers the silver coins in Numistify’s catalogue and may not include every coin, date, variety or special issue. If your coin is not here, look it up in a world coin catalogue such as Numista or the Standard Catalog of World Coins, or ask your local coin shop.

Reading the table

Fineness is the share of silver in the coin: .900 means 90% silver. Silver (troy oz) is the pure silver it contains, the figure that sets its metal value — multiply it by the day’s silver price. KM is the coin’s number in the Standard Catalog of World Coins, the quickest way to look it up. Our guide to silver and gold melt value shows the calculation.

Telling them apart

1964 and 1965. The 5, 10 and 25 centavos dated up to 1964 are .720 silver; from 1965 they are base metal.

Quetzal or centavos. The ¼ quetzal and the 25 centavos are the same .720 coin; the 1943 issue is simply denominated in centavos.

Small reales. The ¼, ½, 1 and 2 reales changed fineness more often than the peso, from .903 down to .750, .600 and .500; check the date and the KM number.

The 1892 4 reales is the only 4 reales in .835, struck in the middle of the .900 run.

What they are worth

Silver content sets a floor, not the value. A scarce date, a rare mint or a coin in fine condition can be worth far more than its metal, so check before selling any coin for its silver: look it up in a world coin catalogue such as the Standard Catalog of World Coins or the NGC World Coin Price Guide, compare auction records and eBay sold listings for the same coin in the same condition, and ask your local coin shop. Our guide to what your coin is worth walks through each step, and are old foreign coins worth anything? covers sorting a mixed lot.

Questions people ask

Are old Guatemalan coins silver?

Most coins dated 1964 or earlier are. Reales and pesos of 1859–1899 range from .903 to .500, and the quetzal coins of 1925–1964 are .720. From 1965 Guatemalan coins are base metal.

Are Guatemalan quetzal coins silver?

The 1 quetzal of 1925 is .720 silver, 33.33 g, with about 0.77 troy ounces of silver. The ½ quetzal of 1925 and the ¼ quetzal of 1925–1949 are .720 too.

When did Guatemala stop making silver coins?

The last silver circulating coins are the 5, 10 and 25 centavos of 1960–1964 and the 50 centavos of 1962–1963. Coins from 1965 are base metal.

What is Guatemala’s last silver peso?

The 1 peso of 1894–1897, at .900 silver.

Related guides

Silver and gold melt value — turning silver weight into a metal value.

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