5 Centavos

Mexico shifted this denomination to brass in 1942 partly in response to wartime metal pressures — the United States was aggressively competing for copper supplies, and the older bronze composition became harder to justify. The brass alloy was a pragmatic compromise that kept the coin in production through the postwar years without interrupting circulation.

The series ran long enough to accumulate meaningful die variation across mints and years, and the later dates — particularly 1955 — are notably scarcer in any grade, as mintages dropped sharply before the type was retired.