Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc

Banknotes of the Swiss franc

Banknotes of the Swiss franc

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Banknotes of the Swiss franc are issued by the Swiss National Bank in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 1,000 Swiss francs.

The ninth series of the Swiss franc, currently in circulation. As of 2022, the Swiss 1000-franc banknote is the world's 2nd highest value currently-issued banknote, after the Brunei $10,000 bill (worth around 6,900 Swiss francs in 2022), followed by the Singapore $1,000 note (worth around 690 CHF) and the 500 euro note (worth around 490 CHF), was demonetised.

Between 2016 and 2019, the eighth series, while remaining valid, was being replaced by the ninth series. All banknotes starting from the sixth series are exchangeable; banknotes from the fifth series ceased to be valid and were fully demonetised on 1 May 2000.

History

The first banknotes in Switzerland were issued in 1825 by the Caisse de dépôt of the city of Bern.[1]

During the 19th century the cantons (states) of Switzerland had the right to print their own notes. Following the law of 8 March 1881 the Swiss National Bank had the exclusive right to issue banknotes in Switzerland. Its first notes were issued in 1907. Since then, nine series of Swiss franc notes have been printed, six of which have been completely released for use by the general public, and a new series started being released in 2016.

Switzerland is unusual among affluent countries in that it used to expire its banknotes; the Swiss National Bank has declared several older series of banknotes to be no longer legal tender some time after introducing newer series.[2] Notes from these "recalled" series could be exchanged for still-valid notes at the National Bank for up to 20 years after the date of recall, after which the notes lost all value. When recalled series become valueless, the National Bank transfers an amount of money equal to the sum of the now-worthless notes to a state-run last-resort disaster insurance fund, the Swiss Fund for Aid in Cases of Uninsurable Damage by Natural Forces.[3] In June 2019, the Swiss parliament passed a bill that removed the twenty-year time limit. Effective 1 January 2020, all banknotes starting from the sixth series issued in 1976 as well as any future series remain valid and can be exchanged for current notes indefinitely.[2][3][4][5]

In April 2021, the Swiss National Bank announced that it was recalling its eighth series of banknotes issued between 1995 and 1998; the series was replaced by the ninth series launched between 2016 and 2019.[6] In May 2021, the old banknotes lost their status as legal tender and are no longer valid for payments.[6]

Overview

More information Overview of all series of Swiss banknotes, Series ...

All series of Swiss banknotes

First series

More information 1st series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

Second series

The second series of Swiss banknotes was issued between 1911 and 1914.

More information 2nd series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

Third series

The third series of Swiss banknotes was printed in 1918; some of the notes were issued as war notes, while others were kept as reserve.[12]

Fourth series

The fourth series of Swiss banknotes was printed in 1938 as a reserve series and was never issued.

More information 4th series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

Fifth series

The fifth series of Swiss banknotes was issued starting in 1957.

More information 5th series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

Sixth series

More information 6th series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

Seventh series

A seventh series of Swiss banknotes was 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 were suddenly to 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.[17][18]

More information 7th series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

Eighth series

The eighth series of Swiss franc banknotes, designed by Jörg Zintzmeyer, entered circulation in 1995. They were withdrawn in 2021.

More information 8th series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

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, which include depictions of blood cells and embryos, were met with sufficient opposition from the general public as to discourage the bank from going forward with them.[20] As a result, the ninth series of Swiss franc banknotes was based on designs by second place finalist Manuela Pfrunder.[21] The series was scheduled to be issued around 2010 but was delayed to 2015 due to technical problems in the production.[22][23] The new 50-franc banknote was issued on 12 April 2016, followed by the 20-franc banknote on 17 May 2017, the 10-franc banknote on 18 October 2017, the 200-franc banknote on 22 August 2018, the 1,000-franc banknote on 13 March 2019 and the 100-franc banknote on 12 September 2019.

More information 9th (current) series of Swiss banknotes, Image ...

Security and counterfeiting

The eighth banknote series possesses at least eighteen security features.[26]

According to the 2008 edition of Guinness World Records, the eighth series of Swiss franc notes is the most secure in the world with up to 18 security features including a tilting digit, which can only be seen from an unusual angle, a UV digit that can only be seen under ultraviolet light and micro text.[27] According to their respective central banks, the rate of counterfeited banknotes as of 2011 was about 1 in 100,000 for the Swiss franc, 1 in 20,000 for the euro, 1 in 10,000 for the United States dollar and 1 in 3,333 for the pound sterling.[28]

See also


Notes and references

  1. Billets de banque in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.; A. Meier: Monnaies....
  2. Blackstone, Brian (20 October 2017). "Switzerland's Old-Money Problem: One Billion in Expiring Francs". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  3. "Ständerat hat eingelenkt – Alte Banknoten werden künftig nicht mehr verfallen". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 5 June 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. "Swiss National Bank recalls old series of banknotes". Reuters. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  5. All banknote series of the SNB, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  6. First banknote series 1907, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  7. Second banknote series 1911, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  8. Third banknote series 1918, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  9. Fourth banknote series 1938, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  10. Fifth banknote series 1957, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 30 September 2007.
  11. Sixth banknote series 1976, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  12. Seventh banknote series, on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 30 September 2007.
  13. Jean-Marc Côté, "Habiller l'argent : Roger Pfund Archived 7 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine", Bulletin de l'Association des Numismates Francophones du Canada. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  14. "Eighth banknote series, 1995". Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss National Bank SNB. May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  15. "7 Interesting Facts about the New Swiss Banknotes". Newly Swissed. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  16. New banknotes project Archived 19 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.
  17. Curtis, Malcolm (27 March 2013). "Swiss money really is dirty: UK scientists". The Local (Switzerland edition). Retrieved 3 July 2013. The Swiss National Bank, responsible for producing Switzerland's money, is planning to introduce new banknotes in 2015 after several delays due to technical problems with paper.
  18. "New banknotes for Switzerland". Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss National Bank SNB. May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  19. "Banknotes and coins: The transition to a new banknote series". Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss National Bank (SNB). Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  20. An overview of the security features Archived 12 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Swiss National Bank (page visited on 11 October 2013).
  21. Guinness World Records (2008 ed.). Hit Entertainment. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-904994-18-3.
  22. (in French) Michel Beuret, "Les mystères de la fausse monnaie", Allez savoir !, number 50, June 2011.

Bibliography

  • Michel de Rivaz, The Swiss banknote: 19071997, Genoud, 1997 (ISBN 2-88100-080-0).
  • Albert Meier, Monnaies – Billets de Banque. Suisse – Liechtenstein 1798–1995, Hünibach, 1996.

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