50 Centavos Pattern, Cuauhtémoc, Copper-Nickel

Pattern coinage from Casa de Moneda de México in this period reflects the mint's repeated attempts to find a workable replacement for the silver-heavy 50 centavos then in circulation. By the mid-1950s, rising silver prices were making the existing alloy economically untenable, and copper-nickel was among several compositions tested before a final solution was adopted. This piece was never approved for circulation.

The 14-gram weight is notably heavy for the denomination — heavier, in fact, than the circulating silver type it was meant to replace — suggesting this particular specification was rejected on practical as much as economic grounds.