Marengo 20 Lire or 50 Pesos: which is the better buy today?
Marengo 20 Lire holds 5.81 g of fine gold and 50 Pesos 37.50 g: 50 Pesos holds 6.46 times the gold of Marengo 20 Lire. The metal costs the same per gram in both; what differs is how much of the price is the coin rather than the gold — and the small one always carries more of it.
| coin | Marengo 20 Lire | 50 Pesos |
|---|---|---|
| fine gold | 5.81 g | 37.50 g |
| gross weight | 6.45 g | 41.67 g |
| purity | 900 ‰ · 21.6 kt | 900 ‰ · 21.6 kt |
| diameter | 21 mm | 37 mm |
| thickness | 1.30 mm | 2.69 mm |
| face value | 20 lire | 50 pesos |
| struck | Italy · 1861–1897 | Mexico · 1921–1947 |
The prices come from the feed, and the feed has not answered yet.
Marengo 20 Lire — The Italian 20 lire of the Latin Monetary Union — the same 5.81 g of gold as a Napoléon or a Vreneli, which is why the three trade together.
50 Pesos — The Centenario: 37.5 g of fine gold, more than an ounce, struck for the centenary of independence and restruck ever since with the 1947 date.
Both are struck in 900 ‰ · 21.6 kt: the same alloy, the same feel in the hand, and any difference on the scale is a difference in gold.
Both were money first: Marengo 20 Lire from 1861 to 1897, 50 Pesos from 1921 to 1947. They trade today on the gold inside them and on how readily each is recognised over a counter.
What decides between them is not the gold, which costs the same per gram in both, but everything charged per coin: striking, distribution, the shop’s margin. Spread over 5.81 g the small coin carries far more of it per gram than the big one does over 37.50 g — which is why Marengo 20 Lire is nearly always the dearer gold, and why it is bought anyway: it sells in smaller pieces, and sells everywhere.