Download - Switzerland- Currency History
Swiss Franc
The franc (German: Franken, French and Romansh: franc, Italian: franco; code: CH
F) is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal
tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in
the German exclaveBüsingen (the sole legal currency is the euro), it is widely used
on a day-to-day basis. The Swiss National Bank issues banknotes and the
federal Swiss mint issues coins.
The Swiss franc is the only version of
the franc still issued in Europe. The
smaller denomination, a hundredth of
a franc, is a Rappen (Rp.) in
German, centime (c.) in
French, centesimo (ct.) in Italian, and rap (rp.) in Romansh. The ISO code of the
currency used by banks and financial institutions is CHF, although "Fr." is used by
most businesses and advertisers; some use SFr.; the Latinate "CHF" denotes
Confoederatio Helvetica franc, because Latin is used as the neutral language
representing the country given its tetralingual populace.
History
(Before the Helvetic Republic)
Before 1798, about 75 entities were making coins in Switzerland, including the
25 cantons and half-cantons, 16 cities, and abbeys, resulting in about 860 different
coins in circulation, with different values, denominations and monetary systems.
(Franc of the Helvetic Republic, 1798- 1803)
In 1798, the Helvetic Republic introduced a currency based on the Berne thaler,
subdivided into 10 batzen or 100 rappen. The Swiss franc was equal to 6¾ grams
pure silver or 1½ French francs.
This franc was issued until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803, but served as
the model for the currencies of several cantons in the re-formed Swiss Confederacy.
(Franc of the Swiss confederation, 1850-)
Although 22 cantons and half-cantons issued coins between 1803 and 1850, less
than 15% of the money in circulation in Switzerland in 1850 was locally produced,
with the rest being foreign, mainly brought back by mercenaries. In addition, some
private banks also started issuing the first banknotes, so that in total, at least 8000
different coins and notes were in circulation at that time, making the monetary
system extremely complicated.
In order to solve this problem, the new Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848 specified
that the Federal Government would be the only entity allowed to make money in
Switzerland. This was followed two years later by the first Federal Coinage Act,
passed by the Federal Assembly on 7 May 1850, which introduced the franc as the
monetary unit of Switzerland. The franc was introduced at par with the French franc.
It replaced the different currencies of the Swiss cantons, some of which had been
using a franc (divided into 10 batzen and 100 rappen) which was worth 1½ French
franc.
In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union,
wherein they agreed to value their national currencies to a standard of 4.5 grams of
silver or 0.290322 grams of gold. Even after the monetary union faded away in the
1920s and officially ended in 1927, the Swiss franc remained on that standard until
1936, when it suffered its sole devaluation, on 27 September during the Great
Depression. The currency was devalued by 30% following the devaluations of
the British pound, U.S. dollar and French franc. In 1945, Switzerland joined
the Bretton Woods system and pegged the franc to the U.S. dollar at a rate of $1 =
4.30521 francs (equivalent to 1 franc = 0.206418 grams of gold). This was changed
to $1 = 4.375 francs (1 franc = 0.203125 grams of gold) in 1949.
The Swiss franc has historically been considered a safe haven currency with
virtually zero inflation and a legal requirement that a minimum of 40% be backed
by gold reserves. However, this link to gold, which dates from the 1920s, was
terminated on 1 May 2000 following a referendum. By March 2005, following a gold
selling program, the Swiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves
which equated to 20% of its assets.
Coins
(Coins of the Helvetic Republic)
Between 1798 and 1803, billon coins were issued in denominations of 1 rappen, ½
batzen, and 1 batzen. Silver coins were issued for 5, 10, 20 and 40 batzen, with the
40 batzen coin also issued with the denomination given as 4 franken. Gold 16 and
32 franc coins were issued in 1800.
(Coins of the Swiss Confederation)
In 1850, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 centimes and
½, 1, 2, and 5 francs, with the 1 and 2 centimes struck in bronze, the 5, 10, and 20
centimes in billon, and the franc denominations in .900 fine silver. Between 1860
and 1863, .800 fine silver was used, before the standard used in France of .835
fineness was adopted for all silver coins except the 5 francs (which remained .900
fineness) in 1875. In 1879, billon was replaced by cupro-nickel in the 5 and 10
centimes and by nickel in the 20 centimes.
Both world wars only had a small effect on the Swiss coinage, with brass and zinc
coins temporarily being issued. In 1931, the size of the 5 franc coin was reduced
from 25 grams to 15, with the silver content reduced to .835 fineness. The next
year, nickel replaced cupro-nickel in the 5 and 10 centimes.
In the late 1960s, due to their linkage to the devaluing U.S. dollar, the prices of
internationally traded commodities rose significantly. A silver coin's material value
exceeded its monetary value, and many were being sent abroad for melting, which
prompted the federal government to make this practice illegal. The statute was of
little effect, and the melting of francs only subsided when the collectible value of
the remaining francs again exceeded their material value.
The 1 centime coin was still produced until 2006, albeit in ever decreasing
quantities, but it did not play any great role in the monetary economy in the fourth
quarter of the twentieth century (circa 1975 to 2000). People and groups who could
justify the use of 1 centime coins for monetary purposes could obtain them at face
value; any other user (such as collectors) had to pay an additional 4 centimes per
coin to cover the production costs, which had exceeded the actual face value of the
coin for many years. The coin fell into disuse in the late 1970s and early 1980s but
was only officially fully withdrawn from circulation and declared to be no longer
legal tender as of 1 January 2007. The long-forgotten 2 centime coin, not minted
since 1974, was demonetized January 1st, 1978.
The 5 centime coin remains in use, in circulation and still legal tender for the time
being notwithstanding the production cost of 11 centimes per coin. One of the main
reasons why the Confederation cannot discontinue this coin is that it is still used in
the pricing of goods and services, particularly the 85 centime second class stamp.
The Swiss Post is looking into the possibility of a price rise or the elimination of the
second class service, which could ultimately pave the way for the elimination of the
5 centime coin therewith.
The designs of the coins have changed very little since 1879. Among the notable
changes were new designs for the 5 franc coins in 1888, 1922, 1924 (minor) and
1931 (mostly just a size reduction). A new design for the bronze coins was used
from 1948. Coins depicting a ring of stars (such as the 1 franc coin seen beside this
paragraph) were modified from 22 stars to 23 stars in 1983; since the stars
represent the Swiss cantons, it was updated to represent the 1979 expansion of the
Swiss federation, when Jura seceded from the Canton of Bern and became the 23rd
canton.
The 10 centime coins from 1879 onwards (except the years 1918-19 and 1932-39)
have the same composition, size and design until now (2009) and are still legal
tender and are found in circulation.
All Swiss coins are language-neutral (at least with respect to Switzerland's four
national languages), featuring only numerals, the abbreviation "Fr." for franc, and
the Latin phrases "Helvetia", "Confœderatio Helvetica" (depending on the
denomination) or the inscription "Libertas" (roman goddess of liberty) on the small
coins. The name of the artist is present on the coins with the standing Helvetia an
the herder.
In addition to these general circulation coins, numerous series of commemorative
coins have been issued, as well
as silver and gold coins. These coins are
no more legal tender, but can be exchanged for face value at post offices, and at
national and cantonal banks. Their material or collector's value equals or exceeds
their face value.
(10 Centimes)
(1 Franc)
Overview of current Swiss coins
ValueDiamete
r(mm)
Thickness
(mm)
Weight
(g)Composition Remarks
5 centimes 17.15 1.25 1.8Aluminium bronze
Made in Cupronickel or pure Nickel until 1980
10 centimes
19.15 1.45 3 CupronickelMade in current minting since 1879
20 centimes
21.05 1.65 4 Cupronickel
1/2 franc(50 centimes)
18.20 1.25 2.2 Cupronickel In silver until 1967
1 franc 23.20 1.55 4.4 Cupronickel In silver until 1967
2 francs 27.40 2.15 8.8 Cupronickel In silver until 1967
5 francs 31.45 2.35 13.2 CupronickelIn silver until 1967 and in 1969
Banknotes
In 1907, the Swiss National Bank took over the issuance of banknotes from the
cantons and various banks. It introduced denominations of 50, 100, 500 and 1000
francs. 20 franc notes were introduced in 1911, followed by 5 franc notes in 1913. In
1914, the Federal Treasury issued paper money in denominations of 5, 10 and 20
francs. These notes were issued in three different versions: French, German and
Italian. The State Loan Bank also issued 25 franc notes that year. In 1952, the
National Bank ceased issuing 5 franc notes but introduced 10 franc notes in 1955. In
1996, 200 franc notes were introduced whilst the 500 franc note was discontinued.
Eight series of banknotes have been printed by the National Bank, six of which have
been released for use by the general public. The sixth series from 1976, designed
by Ernst and Ursula Hiestand, depicted persons from the world of science. It has
been recalled and replaced and will lose any value on 1 May 2020. As of 2006, a
large number of notes from this series have not yet been exchanged, even though
they have not been legal tender for more than 5 years; for example, the value of
those 500 franc banknotes still in circulation represents 167.4 million Swiss francs.
The seventh series was printed in 1984, but kept as a "reserve series", ready to be
used if, for example, wide counterfeiting of the current series suddenly happened.
When the Swiss National Bank decided to develop new security features and to
abandon the concept of a reserve series, the details of the seventh series were
released and the printed notes were destroyed.
The current, eighth series of banknotes was designed by Jörg Zintzmeyer around
the theme of the arts and released starting in 1995. In addition to a new design, this
series was different from the previous one on several counts. Probably the most
important difference from a practical point of view was that the seldom-used 500
franc note was replaced by a new 200 franc note; this new note has indeed proved
more successful than the old 500 franc note. The base colours of the new notes
were kept similar to the old ones, except that the 20 franc note was changed from
blue to red to prevent a frequent confusion with the 100 franc note, and that the 10
franc note was changed from red to yellow. The size of the notes was changed as
well, with all notes from the 8th series having the same height (74 mm), while the
widths were changed as well, still increasing with the value of the notes. The new
series contains many more security features than the previous one; many (but not
all) of them are now visibly displayed and have been widely advertised, in contrast
with the previous series for which most of the features were kept secret.
All banknotes are quadrilingual, displaying all information in the four national
languages. The banknotes depicting a Germanophone display German and
Romansch on the same side as his picture, whereas banknotes depicting a
Francophone or an Italophone display French and Italian on the same side as his
picture.
When the 5th series lost its validity at the end of April 2000, the banknotes that had
not been exchanged represented a total value of 244.3 million Swiss francs; in
accordance with Swiss law, this amount was transferred to the Swiss Fund for
Emergency Losses in the case of non-insurable natural disasters.
In February 2005, a competition was announced for the design of the 9th series,
planned to be released around 2010 on the theme Switzerland open to the world.
The results were announced in November 2005, but the selected design drew
widespread criticisms from the population.
8th (Current) series of Swiss banknotes
Value Dimensions Main Colour Obverse Date of issue
10 francs 126 × 74 mm Yellow Le Corbusier 8 April 1997
20 francs 137 × 74 mm Red Arthur Honegger 1 October 1996
50 francs 148 × 74 mm Green Sophie Taeuber-Arp 3 October 1995
100 francs 159 × 74 mm Blue Alberto Giacometti 1 October 1998
1000 francs 181 × 74 mm Purple Jacob Burckhardt 1 April 1998
Eighth Series
Eighth Series
Ninth Series
In 2005, the Swiss National Bank held a competition to determine the design
of the next series of banknotes. The competition was won by Manuel Krebs, but his
designs were met with sufficient opposition from the general public as to discourage
the bank from going forward with them. As a result, the ninth series of Swiss franc
banknotes will be based on designs by second place finalist Manuela Pfrunder and is
scheduled to be issued in 2010.
Previous Series
Of
Swiss Banknotes
1st series of Swiss banknotes
Value
Dimensions
Main Color
Description Date of
Obverse
Reverse issuewithdrawa
llapse
50 francs
166 × 103 mm
Green/Yellow
HelvetiaOrnaments
20
Jun
e 1
90
7
1 July
19
25
1 July
19
45100
francs183 × 116 mm
Blue HelvetiaOrnaments
500 francs
199 × 126 mm
Green HelvetiaOrnaments
1000 francs
215 × 132 mm
Purple HelvetiaOrnaments
First Series
First Series
2nd series of Swiss banknotes
Value
Dimensions
Main Color
Description Date of
Obverse Reverse issuewithdrawa
llapse
5 francs
148 × 70 mm
Brown/Green William Tell Ornaments3 August 1914
1 May 19801 May 2000
10 francs
135 × 82 mm
Brown/YellowWoman from Neuchâtel
Ornaments — — —
20 francs
163 × 95 mm
Blue/purple Vreneli Ornaments31 July 1914
31 December 1935
1 January 1956
50 francs
165 × 106 mm
Green Woman's head Woodcutter22 December 1911
1 October 1958
1 October 1978
100 francs
181 × 115 mm
Dark blue Woman's head Reaper16 September 1911
1 October 1958
1 October 1978
500 francs
200 × 125 mm
Red/Brown Woman's head Embroideres
24 December
1 October 1 Octobe
1912 1958 r 1978
1000 francs
216 × 131 mm
Purple/Orange
Woman's head Foundry16 September 1911
1 October 1958
1 October 1978
Second Series
Second Series
4th series of Swiss banknotes
Value DimensionsMain Color
DescriptionDate of issue
Obverse Reverse
50 francs 167 × 96 mm Green Woman's head Bull
Never
issu
ed
(re
serv
e s
eri
es)
100 francs190 × 106 mm
BlueWoman from Haslital
Ornaments
500 francs210 × 116 mm
Brown-red Woman's head Chemistry
1000 francs
228 × 125 mm
Purple Woman's head Turbine
*The fourth series of Swiss banknotes was printed in 1938 as a reserve series and
was never issued.
Fourth Series
Fourth Series
5th series of Swiss banknotes
Value DimensionsMain
Colour
Description
Designer
Date of
Obverse Reverse issue withdrawal lapse
10 francs
137 × 75 mm
Red-brown
Gottfried Keller
Bennet blossoms
Hermann Eidenbenz
1 October 1956
1 May 19801 May 2000
20 francs
155 × 85 mm
BlueGuillaume-Henri Dufour
Thistle29 March 1956
50 francs
173 × 95 mm
Green Head of a girlApple harvest
Pierre Gauchat
14 June 1957
100 francs
191 × 105 mm
Dark blue
Head of a boy
St Martin14 June 1957
500 francs
210 × 115 mm
Brown-red
Head of a woman
Fountain of Youth
14 June 1957
1000 francs
228 × 125 mm
PurpleHead of woman
Danse Macabre
14 June 1957
Fifth Series Fifth Series
6th series of Swiss banknotes
ValueDimension
sMain Color
Description Date of
Obverse Reverse issue
10 francs
137 × 66 mm
RedLeonhard Euler
Water turbine, the solar system and a scheme of propagation of rays of light passing through lenses
5 November 1979
20 francs
148 × 70 mm
BlueHorace-Bénédict de Saussure
Mountain range, a group of alpinists and the Ammonshorn
4 April 1979
50 francs
159 × 74 mm
GreenConrad Gessner
Eagle owl, primula, stars4 October 1978
100 francs
170 × 78 mm
Dark blue
Francesco Borromini
Upper part of the dome-tower as well as the floor plan of the churchSant'Ivo alla Sapienza
4 October 1976
500 francs
181 × 82 mm
BrownAlbrecht von Haller
Muscular figure of a human body, graph of respiration and the circulation of the blood, and a purple orchis
4 April 1977
1000 francs
192 × 86 mm
PurpleAuguste Forel
Three ants and a cross-section of an anthill
4 April 1978
Sixth Series
Sixth Series
7th series of Swiss banknotes
Value Dimensions Main Description
Color Obverse Reverse
10 francs
137 × 66 mm Red-brown
Leonhard Euler; development of the polyhedron, the bridges of Königsberg
Gamma function; table for the calculation of numbers; diagram of the Solar System
20 francs
148 × 70 mm BlueHorace-Bénédict de Saussure;quartz crystals; Hornblende beam
Hair hygrometer, view of the valley of Chamonix and the Mont Blanc massif; expedition to the Tacul glacier
50 francs 159 × 74 mm Green
Conrad Gessner; branch of adwarf cherry tree; foliage of the bush
Golden Eagle (based on a woodcut from Gessner's Historiae animalium); "Metamorphosis of animals"; Latin text from the Historiae Animalium referring to the seven-headed hydra
100 francs 170 × 78 mm
Dark blue
Francesco Borromini; architectural motif from the Basilica of St. John Lateran
Raising of the lantern and the spire of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza; floor plan of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane; dove and olive branch
500 francs
181 × 82 mm BrownAlbrecht von Haller;hexagonalstructure of the cell; cell tissue
18th century anatomy plate; x-ray of the human thorax; mountains, referring to his poem "The Alps"
1000 francs 192 × 86 mm Purple
Louis Agassiz; structure of the surface of a shellfish
Head, skeleton and fossil of a perch; structure of the scales of a perch; ammonite
*A seventh series of Swiss banknotes has been designed and printed in 1984, in
parallel with the sixth series, but was never released. It formed the reserve series,
to be released, for example, if the current series would suddenly become widely
counterfeited. At first, almost no information was released on the series for security
reasons, except for small fragments. However, after the eighth series was released,
it was decided to improve the security features of the current series rather than
develop a new reserve series. The details of the seventh series were later released,
while the actual banknotes were destroyed.. The designers were Roger
Pfund and Elisabeth Pfund. They had originally won the competition for the design
of the sixth series, but since the Swiss National Bank decided to use the design by
Ernst and Ursula Hiestand instead, the Pfunds were charged with the design of the
reserve series.
Seventh Series
Seventh Series
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_franc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc
Personal Thoughts
Whew. Finally done! I got tired copying all those pictures. They sure got interesting money history. Anyway, while I was in the middle of the project, I suddenly got confused of which country should I have used in this project—Switzerland or Mexico? Hmm. I can’t seem to make up my mind, so I just continued searching for the currency history of Switzerland. (Hopefully its right, but if not, I’m willing to do one again for the sake of knowing and for the sake of higher grades!) And there you have it! ;) Btw, I just got the entrance examination results from DLSU- Manila and I’m really happy that I made it! I thought it was going to be my first major disappointment this year 2010.
Upon searching the net, I found out the history of money itself. Of course, before money came, people exchanged goods for other goods which we know as the barter system. Then, Ancient China and Africa used cowry shells like they were coins. From what I can recall, it is called commodity money. I also learned that a “shekel” was an ancient unit of currency, and at the same time it is also a unit of weight. Then people began to use coins and eventually used paper bills. Oh yeah, paper bills (cash) are called fiat money. And the latest money today, credit money like cheques and electronic transfers. (http://currency-history.blogspot.com/) Ok, now let’s go on with what I’ve learned about Swiss Franc. Hmm. Swiss Franc is denoted from CHF or Confoederatio Helvetica Franc. A Swiss Franc is equal to 0.96609 USD, which is also equal to P44.5759. Also, some of its previous series weren’t issued.
And now, its time to thank people! I thank God, first of all, for blessing me with knowledge and guiding me in my works. I thank Sir John for allowing us to explore different things and nurturing our minds. I thank Partner (Margaret) for informing us about the project early.
“Information is the oxygen of modern age.”–Former US President, Ronald Reagan
_______________Maeh Lorenz