A Century of Mennonites in Mexico
In March 1922, the first families arrived by train at the place now called Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua. A century later, the coin recalls that migration and settlement.
Read the story →MEXICO CIRCULATING COINS
20 Pesos
Mennonites (2022)
Heritage in Motion
Issued on 8 August 2022, this 20-peso coin commemorates a century since Mennonites arrived in Mexico. A family, a train and cultivated fields bring migration and settlement into the reverse. The twelve-sided format carries a community’s story through the country’s circulating money.
ObverseNational Emblem
ReverseMennonites · 1922–2022
12.67 gNominal mass
30.0 mmDiameter
12-sidedDodecagonal
BimetallicBronze ring · alpaca centre
Latent imageMicrotext and more
2022Year of release
Banco de MéxicoIssuer
Design Highlights
A family, a train and cultivated fields tell the story. The dates 1922–2022 frame a centenary of arrival in Mexico.
Read the story →Security Features
Latent image
Locate the small 20 field.
Microtext
COMUNIDAD PIONERA
The microtext reads COMUNIDAD PIONERA, “pioneering community”. A latent 20 accompanies the design; magnified details are location aids, not authentication tests.
Read the story →In Context
The anniversary recognises migration and settlement. Its chosen scene tells one documented story, without treating all Mennonite communities as identical.
Read the story →LOOK CLOSER
The details behind the design
Identity, history and materials—read together.
01
A Century of Mennonites in Mexico
Chihuahua’s centenary account dates the arrival of the first Mennonite families by train to 8 March 1922 at San Antonio de los Arenales, now Cuauhtémoc. The coin’s 1922–2022 span recalls that migration. The story begins with people moving and establishing new homes, rather than with a single monument.
02
Design Highlights
A Mennonite family forms the principal scene. A train at the left recalls arrival; cultivated fields at the right bring settlement and agricultural work into the composition. The legend names the centenary of Mennonites’ arrival in Mexico. The photographed reverse—not the surrounding landscape illustration—defines the actual coin design.
03
Security Features
The C1 reverse carries a latent 20 and the microtext COMUNIDAD PIONERA. The latter means “pioneering community”. These are small design features within the documented reverse. Enlargements help locate them, but a single image does not reproduce their full behaviour under changing light.
04
In Context
The official anniversary focuses on migration, settlement and contribution. It does not make every Mennonite community identical. This page follows the documented arrival and the particular imagery chosen for the coin, without assigning one lifestyle or experience to all Mennonites in Mexico.
05
1922, 2022 and the Day of Release
The commemorative dates are 1922 and 2022. Banco de México records 8 August 2022 as the start of circulation. The March anniversary of arrival and the August release belong to different events, even though the coin brings them into one centenary story.
06
People at the Centre
The family provides the human focus; the train and fields supply the surrounding narrative. Read the full anniversary legend, the $20 value, the dates and the mint mark alongside those devices. Decorative farm scenery outside the coin is atmosphere, not a substitute for this family-and-train reverse.
07
A Shared Format, a Distinct Story
Like Veracruz, this C1 coin is 30 mm across, twelve-sided and nominally 12.67 g. Its nickel-silver centre and aluminium-bronze ring share the same specified structure. The subject gives it a distinct identity within the 20-peso commemoratives; the common national-arms obverse connects it to Mexico’s circulating coinage.
08
Follow the Subject Across the Series
Compare the people-led composition here with the ship and palace on Veracruz. Both use the same denomination and physical format, but their historical questions differ. Catalogue status should not be mistaken for a claim about scarcity, everyday availability or market value; those require separate evidence.
THE OBJECT
Specifications & material eras
| Property | Specification |
|---|---|
| Face value | 20 MXN |
| Family / format | C1 · 30 mm · 12.67 g |
| Shape / edge | 12-sided · interrupted reeding |
| Centre | Nickel silver · Cu 65%, Ni 10%, Zn 25% · 5.51 g |
| Outer ring | Aluminium bronze · Cu 92%, Al 6%, Ni 2% · 7.16 g |
| First circulation | 2022-08-08 |
| Anniversary | 1922–2022 |
Sources & image credits
Banco de México specifications, original legal texts and institutional histories. Information checked through 13 September 2026.
Open the source list
- Banco de México · Other valid designs
- Banco de México · Veracruz foundation C1
- Banco de México · Mennonites C1
- Banco de México / DOF · Veracruz foundation decree, 25 July 2019
- Government of Chihuahua · Chihuahua 2022 Mennonite centenary notice
- DOF, Banco de México official mirror · DECRETO por el que se establecen las características de una moneda conmemorativa de los cien años de la llegada de los Menonitas a México.
Coin design references: Banco de México. Large 1-peso photographs: Numismatica Quetzalcoatl (Gabriel Herrera), via Numista, CC BY 4.0. Large bronze 50-centavo photographs: Essor Prof, via Numista. Steel 50-centavo photographs: montana2011, via Numista, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
1-peso photographs · Bronze 50 centavos · Steel 50 centavos · CC BY 4.0 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Coin photographs remain unchanged; layout masks remove only exterior background. Detail views are labelled crops. Landscapes are landscape artwork, not documentary photographs or coin-design evidence. Coin images are enlarged and are not all shown at one physical scale.
Sun Stone: Rosemania / Chez Cåsver · CC BY 2.0 · Layout crop; original photograph unchanged.
