1910 Mexico Peso — Caballito

Specifications

Denomination: 1 Peso
Series: Caballito peso
Designer: Charles Pillet
Years of issue: 1910-1914
Composition: 90.3% Silver, 9.7% Copper
Weight: 27.07 g
Diameter: 39 mm
Edge: Lettered
Mint marks: Mo
KM: KM 453
Mintage: 3814000
Key mintages: 1910 issue. Series total reported at 8,365,000 across 1910-1914 (coinsnumismatics.com).

Melt value: $50.65silver $64.40/ozt, copper $0.44/ozt · prices as of Sep 16, 2026

CC BY-SA 4.0 by Casa de Moneda de México, Wikimedia Commons (File:Un_peso,_Caballito,_1910,_plata,_reverso.jpg). Reverse shown.

Liberty on horseback — Charles Pillet's Caballito, struck for the centennial of Mexican independence and beloved as the world's most beautiful peso.

History

Struck 1910–1914, the Caballito (‘little horse’) peso was issued for the centennial of the Cry for Independence and is regarded as one of the most beautiful crown-sized designs of North America (coinsnumismatics.com; LastDodo, accessed 2026-09-16).
The design is by French sculptor Charles Pillet; the 1911 dies were modified by Emilio del Moral and U.S. Mint chief engraver Charles Barber (APMEX; cointalk.com, accessed 2026-09-16).
The reverse shows Liberty riding a horse, torch held high in one hand and a laurel branch in the other, with the rising sun behind; the obverse carries the Mexican coat of arms, an eagle clutching a snake on a prickly pear cactus (coinsnumismatics.com, accessed 2026-09-16).
The edge is lettered with the phrase ‘INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD’ (Independence and Liberty) (coinsnumismatics.com; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).
Specifications: 27.07 g, 39 mm, 90.3% silver, KM 453 (GreatCollections; APMEX, accessed 2026-09-16).
Production ended when the Mexican Revolution disrupted the mint — the series closed in 1914 after only five years (Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).

1910 — 3,814,000 struck, the first year and the most available (GreatCollections; APMEX, accessed 2026-09-16).
1911 short ray — a carry-over from the 1910 reverse dies; the short-ray 1911 is a recognized semi-key variety (coinsnumismatics.com; cointalk.com, accessed 2026-09-16).
1912 — small mintage and a semi-key of the series (coinsnumismatics.com; cointalk.com, accessed 2026-09-16).
1913/2 — an overdate variety where 1912 issues were overstruck, recognized in the PCGS population report (PCGS; coinsnumismatics.com, accessed 2026-09-16).
1914 — a reported mintage of only 120,000, the key date of the series (coinsnumismatics.com, accessed 2026-09-16).

Learn the short-ray vs long-ray diagnostic on 1911 — it’s the variety that separates a common coin from a semi-key.
Check the edge lettering: ‘INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD’ should be complete and readable; weak edge letters can signal a problem coin.
1910 is the affordable type coin; don’t pay key-date money unless the variety or date is confirmed.
The torch hand and the horse’s legs are the wear points — grade from those high points.