Banco de México decided to create an archive to document the history of Mexican currency circulation. Thus, the numismatic department was created at the central bank to take care of a numismatic collection which, built up from a small but remarkable compilation of viceregal coins donated in 1936 by the numismatist and historian Manuel Romero de Terreros, has patiently been augmented throughout the last 60 years.

Currently, the Banco de México Numismatic Collection is considered one of the most important worldwide, not only for its contents of approximately 40,000 coins, banknotes, and medals, but for the quality and rarity of many of them.

This collection is a vivid documentation of Mexican numismatic history. Currency from every historic period is represented, from the early exchange media used in the prehispanic world to the most recently minted coins and notes currently in circulation. The collection includes an excellent set of medals and an ever more complete collection of Mexican banknotes. It also holds a large number of specimens of foreign banknotes, the result of exchange programs established years ago with other central banks.

The numismatic objectives of Banco de México are the following:

Preservation
To carry out preventive preservation, which consists of watching over the proper storage, packing, exhibition, and handling of banknotes and coins in order to prevent their deterioration.

Research
To study the historic period, as well as the numismatic characteristics of each coin, banknote, or medal.

Documentation
To preserve the historic record of each coin and note, and to track their origins and characteristics.

Growth
To enrich the collection by acquiring coins and banknotes according to a program consistent with the specialty of the collection.

Publicity
To promote, among a broader public, interest in numismatic studies, knowledge of Mexican numismatic history, and an appreciation for collecting in order to safeguard the Mexican numismatic collection for the future. Publicity is carried out by means of publications, itinerant exhibitions, conferences, roundtables, and participation in congresses and conventions, as well as consultations with researchers.

The monetary history of the country is widely documented in the patrimony of Banco de México Numismatic Collection (CNBM). The collection of domestic coins stands out; it includes coins from distinct periods of domestic coin production, divided as follows:

a.- The Viceroyalty

• Carlos y Juana (1st and 2nd series), (1535-1572)
• Felipe II (1572-1598)
• Felipe III (1598-1621)
• Felipe IV (1621-1665)
• Carlos II (1665-1700)
• Felipe V (1st and 2nd stages), (1700-1746)
• Luis I (1724)
• Fernando VI (1746-1759)
• Carlos III (1759-1788)
• Carlos IV (1788-1808)
• Fernando VII (1808-1821)

b.- Independence (1810-1821)

• Royalists
• Insurgents
• Restamps (Royalist and insurgent)

c.- Empires

• First empire (1821-1823)
• Second empire (1864-1866)

d.- The Mexican Republic (octaval and decimal systems)

• Mexican mints (1823-1905)
• Foreign mints
  - Alamos (1862-1895)
  - Chihuahua (1832-1895)
  - Culiacán (1846-1905)
  - Durango (1824-1895)
  - Edo. de México (1828-1830)
  - Guadalajara (1824-1895)
  - Guadalupe y Calvo (1843-1852)
  - Guanajuato (1824-1900)
  - Hermosillo (1861-1895)
  - Oaxaca (1858-1893)
  - Real de Catorce (1863-1869)
  - San Luis Potosí (1827-1893)
  - Zacatecas (1824-1905)

e.- Mexico (1905 to date)

f.- The Revolution (1910-1917)

• Issuances from the Pancho Villa group
• Issuances from the Emiliano Zapata group
• Issuances from the free and sovereign state of Oaxaca

g.- Tlacos and regional currency

• Regional currency
• Tlacos known by family name
• Tlacos known by place
• Tlacos known by hacienda
• Tlacos known by monogram

h.- Chops

• Chops
• Other chops and restamps

i.- Others

• Proofs
• Counterfeits

2.- Domestic medals

Another important part of the CNBM is its collection of Mexican medals, among which those made by engravers such as Gerónimo Antonio Gil, Tomás, and Suria y José Guerrero, among others, stand out.

• The Viceroyalty (the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries)
• The empires (1821-1823 and 1864-1866)
• The Mexican Republic (1823 – 1905)
• The twentieth century

3.- Domestic banknotes

A relevant part of Mexico's numismatic history deals with banknote issuance. The rich variety of Mexican banknotes is documented in the CNBM in its distinct stages:

• First empire (1821-1823)
• The national treasury (1823)
• Private issuance banks (1864-1914)
• The Mexican Revolution (1910-1917)
• Banco de México (1925 to date)
• Proofs
• Counterfeits
• Specimens

4.- Various

Within the CNBM, there are various items that, without being coins, banknotes or medals, played some role related to the numismatic history of Mexico, among which are:

• Punzones
• Dinerales
• Feathers
• Plaques
• Shares of mining companies
• Bonds
• Documents
• Prehispanic exchange media

5.- Foreign coins

As the years have gone by, the collection of the CNBM has been enriched with numerous foreign items (coins, medals, banknotes and specimens), which contribute to the documentation of the universal history of monetary circulation.

• Antiquity (the eighth century B.C. to 476 A.D.)
• The Middle Ages (476-1463)
• Modern and contemporary times
• Numismatic cases

6.- Foreign medals

7.- Foreign banknotes

8.- Foreign specimens (in storage)

9.- Various (Stamps, chips, tokens, curiosities, watermarks, etc.)

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