5 pesos - Golfina turtle

This piece is part of the second series of commemorative coins celebrating the Fifth Centennial of the Encounter of two Worlds. It has motifs of animals in danger of being extinguished from the fauna of each participating country. The theme of the Mexican coin is the Golfina turtle (Leopidochelus Olivacea), a species which is about to disappear due to the vast commercial exploitation. Beaches of the Pacific Ocean such as those in the states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Colima, Jalisco, Guerrero and Oaxaca were used by tortoises to lay their eggs. Every year and up until the decade of the 70's, more than one hundred thousand female turtles used to arrive each year.