Mexico Banknotes

Mexico Banknotes

The unit of currency in Mexico is the peso, from the Mexican word pesos or weights, referring to silver or gold weights. The first Mexican banknotes were issued under the reign of Emperor Augustin de Iturbide (1783–1824) in 1823. The sign for the peso is the same as that for the dollar.

Series AA currency bills in Mexico were uniform in size (155 x 66 mm) and issued in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000. Series A pesos were identical in size to Series AA and printed in denominations of $2,000, $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000, and $100,000. Series B bills, nuevos pesos, were introduced in 1993 and printed in sizes of 10, 20, 50, and 100.

Printed in 1992, Series B notes carried over the same designs as the original pesos. Series C banknotes, printed in 1993 but not issued until 1994, had all updated designs. The smallest three sizes, $10, $20, and $50, were slightly smaller than previous issues and measured 129 x 66 mm. The three largest sizes, $100, $200, and $500, had the traditional dimensions.

Series D notes were introduced in 1996. The word "nuevo" was dropped and the bank title El Banco de Mexico changed to Banco de Mexico. The phrase, "pagará a la vista al portador" (pay at sight to the bearer) was deleted. Beginning in October 2001, the 50 and larger peso banknotes were adorned with an iridescent strip in an effort to retard counterfeiting. In the same vein, $100 pesos and larger bore the denomination number in color-shifting ink in the top right-hand corner.

The first polymer plastic banknote in Mexico, $20, made its appearance in September 2002. Series F pesos were released gradually in Mexico over the years 2006 to 2010. Of uniform height, the lengths were graduated from the $20 note to the $200 note. Intervening issues, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000 were incrementally longer.

In 2004, Series D notes in Mexico were incorporated with textured design features (not Braille) to make them more readily identifiable to the visually impaired.

A set of commemorative banknotes from Mexico was released in 2009. These included a 100-peso specimen that commemorated the start of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). This is noteworthy for the presence of a slight printing error. The 200-peso unit memorialized the Bicentennial of the Mexican War for Independence that began in 1810. In 2017, a bill commemorating the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the Mexican Constitution.

What we refer to as paper currency from Mexico is not printed on paper at all, but on a fabric blend. This usually consists of cotton, linen, or a blend of the two. Polymer plastic has also been used for increased security and durability.