Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 2/17/2010

Question
I have a silver Mexican peso from 1899 that heard was used as a badge of some sort it has to protruding marks on it that are also silver that used to hold a clip. So I was told by a former sheriff deputy.  I was wanting to know if you have ever heard of such a thing and if so what would something like this go for.

Answer
Hi Steven,
That would be a most unusual use of a Mexican Peso and I imagine the would be "sheriff" being laughed at by criminals. =)
I think it is far more likely that it was used for a much more common item, like a money clip or belt buckle. Most people in the early days would have been more or less familiar with older Mexican coins, which circulated in the US until being de-monetized by Congress (the Coinage act) in 1857. Older Mexican coins with a similar design were still used as silver bullion currency well after that.
Unfortunately regardless of what it was used for the current condition would make the value basically as scrap bullion silver. the coin contains just over 3/4 ounce of pure silver. This is a fairly common year, made at the Zacatecas mint.
Thanks for the question! =)