1911 Peso Caballito, Short Ray MS (KM-453)

The 1911 Un Peso Caballito is part of the series of Coinage Reform of 1905, when the motto ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS was added to coinage. The Caballito, a/k/a The Little Horse Pesos were struck from 1910-1914. The 1911 Caballito Short Ray (type 1) variety was struck for a brief time before new Type 2 dies were substituted after having been adjusted to better strike details. Struck in Mexico City and designated as a Business (MS) strike, this coin is made of 0.9027 silver, 0.0973 copper. It has a combined mintage for both Short and Long Ray varieties of 1,227,000.  

The 1911 Short Ray Caballitos are struck with type 1 short ray dies.

The 1911 Caballito “short ray” (rayo corto) has one shortened ray of the rising sun on the lower left side of the reverse. This shorter ray was a carryover from where the designer/engravers name appeared on the patterns. His name was removed from the dies without further adjustments to the suns ray, leaving one ray noticeably short. On the 1909 pattern, his name appeared in tall letters as “Ch. Pillet” laid out parallel to the rim on the lower left side. In early 1911 on the new Type 2 dies, Pillet lengthened the short ray for symmetry.

Obverse Description

The Obverse features the Mexican coat of arms, depicting the Aztec legend of a Mexican Eagle grasping a snake in its beak and right claw while standing on a Prickly Pear Cactus on a rocky outcrop on Tenochtitlan in Lake Texcoco. Estatdos Unidos Mexicanos appears above, Oak and Laurel wreath below. Un Peso in bold letters in field on either side of Cactus. Lenticular pattern around face of outer edge.

Reverse Description

The Reverse of the Caballito is the money side as we say in numismatics. It depicts a young woman rider, symbolically representing Liberty, side sitting on an unshod Mexican bucking horse that carries no saddle. Both the horse and rider face to the left. The female rider holds a torch raised high in her left hand as she looks to the rear while urging the horse forward. The flames of the torch flow horizontally to the right. Her right hand holds a branch from an Encino Oak. Liberty is wrapped in loose flowing cloth representing the fabric of society. The Horse has no saddle, no bridle or reins. Behind the horse and rider is a radiant rising sun with its crown breaking above the earth sending 14 rays of light into the sky. Around the outer face is an alternating "lenticular" pattern interspersed with "snaps". The date on the coin sits in the space below the textured ground the horse stands upon, with a raised dot on either side.

Source: Allan Schein