20 Pesos 1977, Mexico
| in Krause book | Number: 64d |
| Years of issue: | 08.07.1977 |
| Edition: | 146 100 000 |
| Signatures: | Unknown signature |
| Serie: | 1969 - 1974 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 29.12.1972 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 156 x 66 |
| Printer: | Banco de México, Mexico |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is made after this portrait of José María Morelos.
José María Teclo Morelos y Pavón (September 30, 1765 - December 22, 1815) was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary rebel leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in 1811. He was later captured by the Spanish colonial authorities and executed for treason in 1815.
Morelos is considered a national hero of Mexico. In his honor, the state of Morelos and city of Morelia are named after him. Morelos' legacy has been portrayed on the 50 peso note since 1997; 1 peso coins during the 1940s, 1970s and 1980s. The Estadio Morelos in Morelia, Puerto Morelos in the state of Quintana Roo, the Morelos Station in Mexico's City Metro System, Ecatepec the city in Mexico State where he was executed and the Morelos Satellite from the Communications company Satmex are also named after him. 
On background is Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo.
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) is a public university in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, and the oldest institution of higher education in the Americas. The University grants law, economics, computer science medicine, architecture, and dentistry degrees, plus several other additional fields of study, mainly in Humanities, Science and Arts.
It has its origins in a college founded in 1540 by Vasco de Quiroga in Pátzcuaro, the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo. This school gained the royal seal and patronage in 1543. In 1566, colonial religious authorities took over the school, and in 1574, academics began to be under the jurisdiction of the Jesuits. With the Episcopal seat changed to Valladolid (modern day Morelia), the school moved also in 1580, and was fused with the already existing Colegio de San Miguel Guayangareo. The school was reformed in the XVII century and its curriculum was redesigned in the XVIII to include courses in philosophy, religious law, civil law and other subjects. At the end of the XVIII century, the school became one of New Spain’s main centers of learning and academia, producing scholars such as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, José María Morelos, José Sixto Verduzco, José María Izazaga and Ignacio López Rayón, most of whom would have a role in the upcoming Mexican War of Independence. The school closed during the war but was reopened in 1847 with the name Primitivo y Nacional Colegio de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, focusing more on secular studies such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, and biology, based on the European university model. After the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917), the school was reorganized and renamed again to the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, which consolidated a number of other schools and disciplines into the new organization.
On the left side depicted an emblem of Morelos, used in Oaxaca at the time of independence war. He issued an insurgent coinage with this emblem at this time.
Oaxaca, officially Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, make up the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 (almost three quarters) are governed by the system of Usos y costumbres (customs and traditions) with recognized local forms of self governance. Its capital city is Oaxaca de Juárez.
Oaxaca is located in Southwestern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Guerrero to the west, Puebla to the northwest, Veracruz to the north, Chiapas to the east. To the south, Oaxaca has a significant coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
The state is best known for its indigenous peoples and cultures.
By 1810, the city of Oaxaca had 18,000 inhabitants, most of whom where mestizos or mixed indigenous/European. During the Mexican War of Independence the government of this area remained loyal to the Spanish Crown. When representatives of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla came to meet with them, they were hanged and their heads left out in view. Some early rebel groups emerged in the state, such as those led by Felipe Tinoco and Catarino Palacios, but they were also eventually executed. After 1812, insurgents began to have some success in the state, especially in the areas around Huajuapan de León, where Valerio Trujano defended the city against royalist forces until José María Morelos y Pavón was able to come in with support to keep the area in rebel hands. After that point, insurgents had greater success in various parts of the state, but the capital remained in royalist hands until the end of the war.
The state was initially a department after the war ended in 1821, but after the fall of emperor Agustín de Iturbide, it became a state in 1824 with Jose Maria Murguia named as its first governor.
During the XIX century, Oaxaca and the rest of Mexico was split between liberal (federalist) and conservative (centralist) factions. The political and military struggles between the factions resulted in wars and intrigues. Vicente Guerrero, a liberal, was executed by firing squad in Cuilapam in 1831. Liberal Manuel Gomez Pedraza became governor in 1832 but was opposed by General Estaban Moctezuma. He and commandant Luis Quintanar persecuted liberals in the state, including Benito Juárez. The constant warfare had a negative effect on the state's economy and those in the Tehuantepec area supported a separatist movement which was partially successful in the 1850s.
Morelos image is accompanied by the emblem of an independent state of Oaxaca (including the word "SUD"). With this emblem also coins were minted on the orders of Jose Maria Morelos.
There is an assumption, that the word SUD means "Santos de los Últimos Días" or "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Mormons). The assumption is not verified yet!
Lower are the sword and scabbard of Morelos.
Denominations in numerals are in all corners, in words centered.
Revers:
Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan or Temple of Quetzalcoatl. On the left side is a serpent head of Quetzalcoatl.
The Temple of the Feathered Serpent is the modern-day name for the third largest pyramid at Teotihuacan, a pre-Columbian site in central Mexico. This structure is notable partly due to the discovery in the 1980s of more than a hundred possibly-sacrificial victims found buried beneath the structure. The burials, like the structure, are dated to some time between 150 and 200 CE. The pyramid takes its name from representations of the Mesoamerican "feathered serpent" deity which covered its sides. These are some of the earliest-known representations of the feathered serpent, often identified with the much-later Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. The structure is also known as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, and the Feathered Serpent Pyramid.
The Temple of the Feathered Serpent is located at the southern end of the Avenue of the Dead, Teotihuacan's main thoroughfare, within the Ciudadela complex. The Ciudadela (Spanish, "citadel") is a structure with high walls and a large courtyard surrounding the temple. The Ciudadela’s courtyard is massive enough that it could house the entire adult population of Teotihuacán within its walls, which was estimated to be one hundred thousand people at its peak. Within the Ciudadela there are several monumental structures, including the temple, two mansions north and south of the temple, and the Adosada platform. Built in the IV century, the Adosada platform is located just in front (west) of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, obscuring its view.
The Feathered Serpent Pyramid is a six-level step pyramid built in the talud-tablero style.
The outside edges of each level are decorated with feathered serpent heads alternating with those of another snake-like creature, often identified as Tlaloc. Nevertheless, Mary Ellen Miller and Karl Taube claim that these heads may represent a "war serpent", while Michael D. Coe claims, somewhat similarly, that they probably represent the "fire serpent" wearing a headdress with the Teotihuacan symbol for war. In the eyes of these figures there is a spot for obsidian glass to be put in, so when the light hits, its eyes would glimmer. In antiquity the entire pyramid was painted - the background here was blue with carved sea shells providing decoration.
Under each row of heads are bas-reliefs of the full feathered serpent, in profile, also associated with water symbols. These and other designs and architectural elements are more than merely decorative, suggesting "strong ideological significance", although there is no consensus just what that significance is. Some interpret the pyramid's iconography as cosmological in scope - a myth of the origin of time or of creation - or as calendrical in nature. Others find symbols of rulership, or war and the military.
Today the pyramid is largely hidden by the Adosada platform hinting at political restructurisation of Teotihuacan during the IV century CE, perhaps a "rejection of autocratic rule" in favour of a collective leadership. Following excavations in the early XX century, a section of a façade on the monument's west side was discovered. This section is believed to date from the late 3rd century. Fantastic and rare carvings on the surfaces show depictions of the feathered serpent deity, other gods, and seashells on panels on either side of a staircase.
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and means "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent is first known documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE. That period lies within the Late Preclassic to Early Classic period (400 BC - 600 AD) of Mesoamerican chronology, and veneration of the figure appears to have spread throughout Mesoamerica by the Late Classic (600-900 AD).
Top, on the left side, is an emblem of Bank of Mexico. The seal of Bank is on the right side.
Denominations in numerals are in three corners. In words lower.
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