Mintage reference

Mexican Libertad mintage figures by year

Silver and gold Libertad mintages by size and finish, from the 1981 gold launch and the 1982 silver debut through to 2025.

Banco de México SIE · cuadros CM26 & CM27 · updated 2026-08-29

Everything from 1993 onward comes from Banco de México’s own coinage statistics. Earlier years carry a dagger (†) and are best treated as approximate — the notes at the foot of the page explain why.

A short history of the Libertad

Mexico had long sold silver to investors as the onza troy de balanza, a plain bullion piece with a set of scales on the reverse. Banco de México wanted something better: a coin that would replace it in the market, sit alongside the gold pieces as a matched series, and carry legal tender status in its own right. Gold came first, in 1981; the silver ounce followed in 1982.

For the design the Mint reached back to the Centenario, the 50-peso gold coin struck for the centenary of independence. Its reverse carries the Winged Victory from the Ángel de la Independencia on Paseo de la Reforma, with Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl rising behind her. The obverse took the national coat of arms. That decision is why a modern bullion coin looks like a classic one, and it has never been undone.

One feature sets the Libertad apart from almost every other government bullion coin: it carries no face value. An American Silver Eagle says one dollar and a Britannia says two pounds. A Libertad says nothing at all. It is legal tender in Mexico at the equivalent of its daily quotation, so the metal sets the value rather than a number stamped on the coin.

The range widened over time. In 1991 Banco de México added silver halves, quarters, tenths and twentieths of an ounce, and the same year brought 1/10 and 1/20 ounce in gold.

Then, in 1996, came the redesign that divides the series in two. The coins had been popular enough that the Bank decided to make the reverse more attractive, and the central change was one of viewpoint: the Angel is now seen from a different perspective, smaller in the field and showing more of the column she stands on, with the volcanoes further off. The one-ounce silver coin grew from 36 mm to 40 mm at the same time, which is why collectors still call the original type the gordita — the chubby one. Two new silver sizes, two and five ounces, arrived with the new design, and a kilo in 2002. The decree of 20 May 1999 formalised the die.

The obverse waited until 2000. Until then the silver coins carried the national coat of arms alone, a single eagle on its cactus against an open field. From 2000 it is ringed by ten earlier versions of the same emblem, running from the modern arms back through the nineteenth century to the eagle of the Códice Mendocino — a heraldic timeline around the edge of the coin. It is the detail that most quickly dates a Libertad in hand. The gold obverse was left alone and still carries the plain coat of arms it was given in 1981.

This history follows Banco de México’s own descriptions of the Serie Libertad and the Nueva Serie Libertad.

Which Libertads are the scarcest?

The lowest one-ounce silver mintages of the series, and the dates collectors chase. 1998 is the long-standing key date; 2025 is lower still, though Banco de México has yet to finalise that year.

How many Libertads were minted each year?

Silver and gold, each in bullion and proof finish. Key dates — those struck in unusually small numbers for their size — are starred.

Silver Libertad — bullion finish (acabado satín)

The standard bullion strike, and the figure most collectors mean by “mintage”.

Silver Libertad — proof (acabado espejo)

Silver Libertad — reverse proof

Mirrored devices against frosted fields, the opposite of an ordinary proof. Banco de México lists it as acabado mate-brillo. The one-ounce arrived in 2015, the two- and five-ounce followed, and it is the finish most kilo Libertads carry — which is why the kilo column in the bullion table above is so sparse and this one is not. Mintages are small throughout, often a thousand pieces or fewer.

Silver Libertad — very high relief kilo

A separate coin rather than a finish: a kilogram struck in unusually deep relief, issued in 2017 alone.

Silver Libertad — antiqued finish

A darkened, aged surface, issued only in 2018 and 2019.

Original gold Libertad, 0.900 fine (1981–1989)

The launch series, struck in 1981 and then not again — apart from a single proof issue in 1989 — until the .999 coins arrived in 1991.

One proof was struck in this composition: a half ounce in 1989, made under private contract for the three-piece Rainbow Proof Set, in an issue of 704 pieces.

Gold Libertad, 0.999 fine — bullion finish

Gold Libertad, 0.999 fine — proof

Gold Libertad, 0.999 fine — reverse proof

The years people ask about

How many 1998 Libertads were minted?

67,000 one-ounce silver Libertads were struck in 1998. A further 500 were struck as proofs. It is the lowest figure of any settled year and the recognised key date of the series.

How many 1997 Libertads were minted?

100,000 one-ounce silver Libertads were struck in 1997. A further 1,500 were struck as proofs. Together with 1998 and 1999 it forms the scarcest stretch of the modern run.

How many 1999 Libertads were minted?

95,000 one-ounce silver Libertads were struck in 1999. A further 600 were struck as proofs. The third of the three scarce years either side of the 1998 key date.

How many 1982 Libertads were minted?

1,049,680 one-ounce silver Libertads were struck in 1982. The first year of the silver Libertad, struck on the original 36 mm die collectors call the gordita.

How many 2009 Libertads were minted?

1,650,000 one-ounce silver Libertads were struck in 2009. A further 10,000 were struck as proofs. The highest figure of the modern era, as silver demand surged after the financial crisis.

How many 1992 Libertads were minted?

2,458,000 one-ounce silver Libertads were struck in 1992. A further 10,000 were struck as proofs. The largest one-ounce mintage of the whole series.

What the numbers show

1998, the key date

Just 67,000 one-ounce silver Libertads were struck in 1998 — the lowest figure of any settled year, and the recognised key date of the series. It sits at the bottom of a long slide from the 1992 high, as the Mexican Mint cut output through the second half of the decade. The years either side are scarce too: 100,000 in 1997 and 95,000 in 1999, and collectors often treat the three together as the hardest stretch of the run.

The highs: 1992, and 2009

The largest one-ounce mintage of the whole series is 2,458,000 in 1992, with 2,017,000 in 1985 close behind. Those early years are frequently overlooked because most published tables start at 2000. Within the modern era the peak is 1,650,000 in 2009, when silver demand surged after the financial crisis.

Notes on the figures

These tables count pieces struck, which is what collectors normally mean by mintage; Banco de México also publishes a lower count of pieces released, so figures elsewhere may differ. Anything before 1993 predates Banxico’s series and is approximate.

Sources

1993–2025: Banco de México’s coinage statistics, CM27 for silver, CM26 for gold. Earlier years, marked with a dagger, come from Wikipedia and Numista.