Whats with him beside the snake??????

Frankn · Mar 3, 2012

What's with him beside the snake

A few years ago on one of my expiditions in to NM I "found" shall I say, a "few" of these coins near Columbia. I was looking thru my memory box and was wondering what the heck that Mexican eagle is standing over as he eats his snake. Any ideas

Frank
PM Yes I just noticed he is upsidedown. Sorry about that.

Charlie P. (NY) · Mar 3, 2012

Re: What's with him beside the snake

That's the Mexican Coat of Arms. It's a nopal cactus (prickly pear) and oak and laurel leaves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Mexico

old digger · Mar 3, 2012

Re: What's with him beside the snake

Yeah; but just below the eagle's talons it looks like a bag wraped with rope.

Frankn · Mar 3, 2012

Re: What's with him beside the snake

Good find Charlie, but the configuration is slightly different. On the coin, the eagle is standing on the "pot" with the cacti comming out of either side. In the literature the eagle is standing on the cacti directly plus there appears to be a bow and arrows plus 3 balls under the pot on the coin. You think they would know their own crest. Frank

Twisted One · Mar 3, 2012

Re: What's with him beside the snake

bag of peyote.

lookindown · Mar 3, 2012

Re: What's with him beside the snake

Pig in the balnket...yum.

rginn · Mar 4, 2012

Re: What's with him beside the snake

Well somethin I know a little about. It's an eagle holding a serpent on a cactus. The Aztecs were wanderin from the north and were told to settle where they saw this particular vision, so they ran onto it and founded Tenochtitlan. My wife is Mexican and all the kids and grandkids tend to believe themselves more Indian than Spanish with lots of Aztec names sprinkled about. The symbol is open to intrepretation according to the artist. It's the Mexican coat of arms and appears on their flag. On the flag, the green represents the salsa verde, the red salsa roja, and the white the tablecloth it's served on. That joke's only met with polite laughter from the family, but I always hope for better.

rginn · Mar 4, 2012

Re: What's with him beside the snake

I will add that there's no drug references in this symbol other than it could have been datura (look that one up) inspired. To update, my step-son Quetzal says what the prickly pear is growin out of is an Aztec symbol for stone. Below that is water. My 11 yr. old grandson Tonatiuh, in Guadalajara, doesn't have a clue but does think the Mexican flag joke is funny. At least the first 12 times he heard it.