20 Centavos Pattern, Madero, Alternative Design, Copper-Nickel

Pattern coinage from the Casa de Moneda rarely surfaces in auction records, and the 1972 Madero series produced several competing designs simultaneously — standard practice when the mint was evaluating a new circulating type. This piece represents the path not taken: an alternative proposal that lost out to the design ultimately adopted for circulation. The approved 20 centavos entered production the same year, making it possible to compare the rejected and accepted strikes directly.