Swiss German (one selection, terms vary in different dialects):
Füfräppler/Füfi for a 5 centimes coin;Zëhräppler/Zähni for a 10 centimes coin;Zwänzgräppler/Zwänzgi for a 20 centimes coin;Füfzgi for a 50 centimes coin;[1]Stutz[2] orFranke[3] for a 1 franc coin or change in general;Füüfliiber for a 5 francs coin;[4]Rappe andBatze are specifically used for coin below 1 franc, but also figuratively for change in general[5][6]
Swiss Standard German:Einfränkler for a 1 franc coin;Zweifränkler for a 2 francs coin;Hunderter for a 100 francs note;Ameise for a 1000 francs note
Swiss French:balle(s) for ≥ 1 franc;thune for a 5 franc coin
It is also designated through thecurrency signsFr. (inGerman),fr. (inFrench,Italian, andRomansh), orCHF (in any other language), which stands forConfoederatio Helvetica Franc.[e][7][14][15] These initials also serve as theISO 4217 currency code, used by banks and financial institutions.
The smaller denomination, a hundredth of a franc, is aRappen (Rp.) in German,centime (c.) in French,centesimo (ct.) in Italian, andrap (rp.) in Romansh.
The official symbolsFr. (in German) andfr. (in theRomance languages) are widely used by businesses and advertisers, including in English. However, according toArt. 1 SR/RS 941.101 of the federal law collection, the internationally official abbreviation – regardless of the national languages – isCHF,[7] which is also to be used in English; respective guides also request that the ISO 4217 code be used.[11][8][9][10] The use ofSFr. forSwiss Franc andfr.sv. are outdated.[8][9][10] As previously indicated, the Latinate "CH" stands forConfoederatio Helvetica; given thedifferent languages used in Switzerland,Latin is used for language-neutral inscriptions on its coins.
French ecu stamped "40 BZ" (batzen) inBern became 4franken under the Helvetic Republic
Before 1798, about 75 entities were making coins in Switzerland, including the 25cantons and half-cantons, 16 cities, and abbeys, resulting in about 860 different coins in circulation, with different values, denominations and monetary systems.[16] However, the origins of a majority of these currencies can be traced to either the Frenchlivre tournois (the predecessor of theFrench franc) or theSouth German gulden of the 17th century. The new Swiss currencies emerged in the 18th century after Swiss cantons did not follow the pace of depreciations which occurred in France and Germany. However, they mostly existed only in small change as they were little more thancommunity currency, current in one canton but not in the other, and foreign coins like French francs and kronenthalers were more recognized as currency all over Switzerland.[17]
A high-level summary of existing currencies at the end of the 18th century is shown below, including their equivalents in terms of theFrench écu of 26.67 g fine silver, the South Germankronenthaler of 25.71 g fine silver, and Swiss francs of 4.5 g fine silver.[18]
The livre of Bern and most western Swiss cantons like Basel, Aargau, Fribourg, Vaud, Valais, Lausanne, Neuchâtel and Solothurn originated from the Frenchlivre tournois.
The livre was divided into 20 sols, 10batzen or 40kreuzer.
After 1690, 30 Bern batzen equated to either
a GermanReichsthaler (25.984 g fine silver) worth 2 gulden or 120 kreuzer, or
a French Louis d'Argent, equivalent to theSpanish dollar (24.93 g fine silver), worth 3 livres tournois or 60 sols.
After 1726, theFrench écu (laubthaler) of26+2⁄3 g fine silver was valued at 4 livres or 40 batzen (vs 6 livres tournois in France).[19]
After 1815, the Germankronenthaler (Brabant thaler) of25+5⁄7 g fine silver was valued at 3.9 livres or 39 batzen (in Neuchâtel, 4.1 livres).
This livre or frank of1⁄4 écu was the model for the frank of the Helvetic Republic of 1798–1847.
Geneva had its own currency, theflorin petite monnaie, with3+1⁄2 florins equal to thelivre courant. After 1641, the Spanish dollar was worth10+1⁄2 florins or 3 livres. Afterwards, theécu was valued at12+3⁄4 florins or3+9⁄14 livres, while thekronenthaler was valued at12+3⁄8 florins or3+15⁄28 livres. See alsoGeneva thaler andGeneva genevoise.
Many currencies of central and eastern Switzerland originated from theSouth German gulden. It was divided into 40 schilling or 60kreuzer, and the thaler was worth 2 gulden. After 1690, this gulden was worth1⁄2 aReichsthaler specie, or 12.992 g fine silver. After 1730, the different guilders of Southern Germany and Switzerland fragmented under varying rates of depreciation. TheSouth German gulden, worth1⁄24 aCologne mark (233.856 g) of fine silver, also applied to the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell, Schaffhausen and Thurgau. TheFrench écu was valued at 2.8 gulden, while thekronenthaler was valued at 2.7 gulden. SeeSt. Gallen thaler.
The cantons of Zurich, Schwyz and Glarus, however, maintained a stronger gulden worth1⁄22 aCologne mark of fine silver. The French écu was valued at2+1⁄2 gulden, while the kronenthaler was valued at2+18⁄40 gulden; seeZürich thaler andSchwyz gulden. On the other hand, the central Swiss cantons of Luzern, Uri, Zug and Unterwalden maintained a weaker gulden vs theSouth German gulden. The French écu was valued at 3 gulden, while the kronenthaler was valued at2+37⁄40 gulden (seeLuzern gulden).
In 1798, theHelvetic Republic introduced thefranc orfrank, modelled on theBern livre worth1⁄4 the écu, subdivided into 10batzen or 100rappen (centimes). It contained6+2⁄3 grams of fine silver and was initially worth1+1⁄2 livres tournois or 1.48French francs.[20]
32Franken gold coin of the Helvetic Republic (1800)
After 1815, therestored Swiss Confederacy attempted to simplify the system of currencies once again. As of 1820, a total of 8,000 distinct coins were current in Switzerland: those issued by cantons, cities, abbeys, and principalities or lordships, mixed with surviving coins of the Helvetic Republic and the pre-1798 Helvetic Republic. In 1825, the cantons of Bern, Basel, Fribourg, Solothurn, Aargau, and Vaud formed a monetaryconcordate, issuing standardised coins, the so-calledKonkordanzbatzen, still carrying the coat of arms of the issuing canton, but interchangeable and identical in value. The reverse side of the coin displayed aSwiss cross with the letter C in the center.
TheKonkordanzbatzen among the Swiss cantons agreeing on an exclusive issue of currency in francs and batzen failed to replace the over 8,000 different coins and notes in circulation. Despite introduction of the first Swiss franc, the South Germankronenthaler became the more desirable coin to use in the 19th century, and it was still quoted in pre-1798 currency equivalents. Furthermore, less than 15% of Swiss money in circulation was in local currency, since French and German gold and silver trade coins proved to be more desirable means of exchange.[17] A final problem was that the first Swiss franc was based on the French écu which was being phased out by France in the 19th century.
To solve this problem, the newSwiss Federal Constitution of 1848 specified that the federal government would be the only entity allowed to issue money in Switzerland. This was followed two years later by the first Federal Coinage Act, passed by theFederal Assembly on 7 May 1850, which introduced the franc as the monetary unit of Switzerland.
The Swiss franc was introduced at par with theFrench franc, at 4.5 g fine silver or9⁄31 g = 0.29032 g fine gold (ratio 15.5). The currencies of the Swiss cantons were converted to Swiss francs by first restating their equivalents in Germankronenthaler (écu brabant) of25+5⁄7 grams fine silver, and then to Swiss francs at the rate of 7écu brabant = 40 Swiss francs. The first franc worth1⁄4th the French écu was converted at 1.4597 Swiss francs.[21]
Exchange rates with the euro and U.S. dollar, 2003–2006
In 1865,France,Belgium,Italy, andSwitzerland formed theLatin Monetary Union, in which they agreed to value their national currencies to a standard of 4.5grams of fine silver or 0.290322 grams fine gold, equivalent to US$1 = CHF 5.1826 until 1934. Even after the monetary union faded away in the 1920s and officially ended in 1927, the Swiss franc remained on that standard until 27 September 1936, when it suffered its soledevaluation during theGreat Depression. Following the devaluations of theBritish pound,U.S. dollar andFrench franc, the Swiss franc was devalued 30% to 0.20322 grams fine gold, equivalent to US$1 = CHF 4.37295.[22] In 1945, Switzerland joined theBretton Woods system with its exchange rate to the dollar fixed until 1970.[23]
The Swiss franc has historically been considered asafe-haven currency, with a legal requirement that a minimum of 40% be backed bygold reserves.[24] However, this link to gold, which dated from the 1920s, was terminated on 1 May 2000 following areferendum, making the francfiat money.[25][26] By March 2005, following a gold-selling program, theSwiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves, which equated to 20% of its assets.[27]
In November 2014, the referendum on the "Swiss Gold Initiative", which proposed a restoration of 20% gold backing for the Swiss franc, was voted down.[28]
Euro – Swiss franc exchange rate from 1999. During 2011 to 2014, 1 EUR exchanged for no less than 1.2 CHF, since the Swiss central bank enforced an exchange rate to prevent CHF from "overvaluation". In the diagram, this period started on 6 September 2011 with a sharp rise and ended on 15 January 2015 with a sharp fall.
The onset of theGreek sovereign debt crisis resulted in a strong appreciation in the value of the Swiss franc, past US$1.10 (CHF 0.91 per USD) in March 2011, to US$1.20 (CHF 0.833 per USD) in June 2011, and to US$1.30 (CHF 0.769 per USD) in August 2011.[29] This prompted the Swiss National Bank to boost the franc's liquidity to try to counter its "massiveovervaluation".[30]The Economist argued that itsBig Mac Index in July 2011 indicated an overvaluation of 98% over the dollar, and cited Swiss companies releasing profit warnings and threatening to move operations out of the country due to the strength of the franc.[31] Demand for francs and franc-denominated assets was so strong that nominal short-term Swissinterest rates became negative.[32]
On 6 September 2011, the day after the franc traded at 1.11 CHF/€ and appeared headed to parity with theeuro, the SNB set a minimum exchange rate of 1.20 CHF to the euro ('capping' the franc's appreciation), saying "the value of the franc is a threat to the economy",[33] and that it was "prepared to buy foreign currency in unlimited quantities".[34] In response to this announcement the franc fell against theeuro from 1.11 to 1.20 CHF, against theU.S. dollar from 0.787 to 0.856 CHF, and against all 16 of the most active currencies on the same day.[35] It was the largest plunge of the franc ever against the euro.[36]
The intervention stunned currency traders, since the franc had long been regarded as a safe haven.[37][38] The SNB had previously set an exchange rate target in 1978 against theDeutsche mark and maintained it,[clarification needed] although at the cost of high inflation.[39] Until mid-January 2015, the franc continued to trade below the target level set by the SNB,[40] though the ceiling was broken at least once on 5 April 2012, albeit briefly.[41]
On 18 December 2014, the Swiss central bank introduced anegative interest rate on bank deposits to support its CHF ceiling.[42] However, with the euro declining in value over the following weeks, in a move dubbedFrancogeddon[43][44][45][46] for its effect on markets, the Swiss National Bank abandoned the ceiling on 15 January 2015, and the franc promptly increased in value compared with the euro by 30%, although this only lasted a few minutes before part of the increase was reversed.[47] The move was not announced in advance and resulted in "turmoil" in stock and currency markets.[48] By the close of trading that day, the franc was up 23% against the euro and 21% against the US dollar.[49] The full daily appreciation of the franc was equivalent to $31,000 per single futures contract: more than the market had moved collectively[clarification needed] in the previous thousand days.[50] The key CHF interest rate was also lowered from −0.25% to −0.75%, meaning depositors would be paying an increased fee to keep their funds in a Swiss bank account. This devaluation of the euro against the franc was expected to hurt Switzerland's large export industry.The Swatch Group, for example, saw its shares drop 15% (in Swiss franc terms) with the announcements[47] so that the share price may have increased on that day in terms of other major currencies.
The large and unexpected jump caused major losses for some currency traders.Alpari, a Russian-ownedspread betting firm established in the UK, temporarily declared insolvency before announcing its desire to be acquired (and later denied rumours of an acquisition) byFXCM.[51][52] FXCM was bailed out by its parent company.[53]Saxo Bank ofDenmark reported losses on 19 January 2015.[54]New Zealand foreign exchange brokerGlobal Brokers NZ announced it "could no longer meet New Zealand regulators' minimum capital requirements" and terminated its business.[55]
Coins before 1700 were based on either the Frenchlivre tournois system (in Louis d'Argent, Louis d'Or and fractions) or theSouth German gulden system (inReichsthalers,florins and fractions). After 1700 Swiss cantonal currencies diverged from the value of the French and German units. However, they mostly existed only in small change as they were a mere community currency, current in one canton but not in the other, and foreign coins like French francs and Brabant dollars were more recognized as currency all over Switzerland.[17]
16 franc gold coin of the Helvetic Republic (1800)
Between 1798 and 1803,billon coins were issued in denominations of 1 centime,1⁄2 batzen, and 1 batzen. Silver coins were issued for 10, 20 and 40 batzen (also denominated 4 francs), matching with French coins worth1⁄4,1⁄2 and 1 écu. Gold 16- and 32-franc coins were issued in 1800, also matching with French coins worth 24 and 48 livres tournois.[56]
In 1850, coins were introduced in denominations of1 centime,2 centimes,5 centimes,10 centimes20 centimes,1⁄2 franc,1 franc,2 francs, and5 francs. The 1 centime and 2 centime coins were struck in bronze; the 5 centimes, 10 centime and 20 centime inbillon (with 5% to 15%silver content); and the1⁄2 franc, 1 franc, 2 franc and 5 franc 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 cupronickel in the 5 centime and 10 centime coins and by nickel in the 20 centime piece.[57]Gold coins in denominations of 10, 20, and 100 francs, known asVreneli, circulated until 1936.[58]
Both world wars only had a small effect on the Swiss coinage, with brass and zinc coins temporarily being issued. In 1931, the mass 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 cupronickel in the 5 centime and 10 centime coins.[59]
5 Swiss francs coin minted in 1889
In the late 1960s, the prices of internationally traded commodities rose significantly. A silver coin's metal value exceeded its monetary value, and many were being sent abroad for melting, which prompted thefederal government to make this practice illegal.[60] 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.[citation needed]
The 1 centime coin was still produced until 2006, albeit in ever decreasing quantities, but its importance declined. Those 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 four 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 on 1 January 2007. The long-forgotten 2 centime coin, not minted since 1974, was demonetized on 1 January 1978.[59]
1 Swiss franc coin minted in 1995
The designs of the coins have changed very little since 1879. Among the notable changes were new designs for the 5 francs 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 altered from 22 stars to 23 stars in 1983; since the stars represent the Swiss cantons, the design was updated when in 1979Jura seceded from theCanton of Bern and became the 23rd canton of the Swiss Confederation.[59]
3D animation of the surface of a1⁄2-franc coin
The 10 centime coins from 1879 onwards (except the years 1918–19 and 1932–1939) have had the same composition, size, and design to present and are still legal tender and found in circulation.[59] For this, the coin entered the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest original currency in circulation.[61]
All Swiss coins are language-neutral with respect to Switzerland's four national languages, featuring only numerals, the abbreviation "Fr." for franc, and the Latin phrasesHelvetia orConfœderatio Helvetica (depending on the denomination) or the inscriptionLibertas (Roman goddess of liberty) on the small coins. The name of the artist is present on the coins with the standing Helvetia and the herder.
In addition to these general-circulation coins, numerous series of commemorative coins have been issued, as well assilver andgold coins. These coins are no longer legal tender, but can in theory be exchanged at face value at post offices, and at national and cantonal banks,[62] although their metal or collectors' value equals or exceeds their face value.
Fine print of a CHF 20 banknote, with distances between earth and various celestial bodies inlight-seconds
In 1907, theSwiss National Bank took over the issuance of banknotes from the cantons and various banks. It introduced denominations of 50, 100, 500 and 1000 francs.[65] Twenty-franc notes were introduced in 1911, followed by 5-franc notes in 1913.[66] 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.[67] 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.
Nine series of banknotes have been printed by the Swiss National Bank, seven of which have been released for use by the general public, the fourth and seventh being reserved and never issued. The sixth series from 1976, designed byErnst andUrsula Hiestand [de], depicted persons from the world ofscience.This series was recalled on 1 May 2000 and is no longer legal tender, but notes can still be exchanged for valid ones of the same face value at any National Bank branch or authorized agent, or mailed in by post to the National Bank in exchange for a bank account deposit. The exchange program originally was due to end on 30 April 2020, after which sixth-series notes would lose all value.[68] As of 2016, 1.1 billion francs' worth of sixth-series notes had not yet been exchanged, even though they had not been legal tender for 16 years and only 4 more years remained to exchange them. To avoid having to expire such large amounts of money in 2020, theFederal Council (cabinet) and National Bank proposed in April 2017 to remove the time limit on exchanges for the sixth and future recalled series.[69][70] As of 2020, this proposal was enacted, so old banknote series will not expire.
The seventh series was printed in 1984, but kept as a "reserve series", ready to be used if, for example, widecounterfeiting 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.[71]
The eighth series of banknotes was designed byJörg Zintzmeyer [de] around the theme of the arts and released starting in 1995. In addition to its newvertical 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.[f] 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 eighth 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 contain many more security features than the previous ones;[72] many 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.
Eight series (1995–1998)[73] Designer: Jörg Zintzmeyer
All banknotes are quadrilingual, displaying all information in the four national languages. With the eighth series, the banknotes depicting a Germanophone person have German and Romansch on the same side as the picture, whereas banknotes depicting a Francophone or an Italophone person have French and Italian on the same side as the picture. The reverse has the other two languages.
When the fifth 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.[74]
In February 2005, a competition was announced for the design of the ninth series, then planned to be released around 2010 on the theme "Switzerland open to the world". The results were announced in November 2005. The National Bank selected the designs of Swiss graphic designerManuela Pfrunder as the basis of the new series. The first denomination to be issued was the 50-franc note on 12 April 2016. It was followed by the 20-franc note (17 May 2017), the 10-franc note (18 October 2017), the 200-franc note (15 August 2018), the 1000-franc note (5 March 2019), and the 100-franc note (12 September 2019).
All banknotes from the eighth series were withdrawn on 30 April 2021, but, like banknotes of the sixth series withdrawn in 2000, remain indefinitely redeemable at the Swiss National Bank.[75]
As of March 2010, the total value of released Swiss coins and banknotes was 49.664 billion Swiss francs.[80]
Value of Swiss coins and banknotes in circulation as of March 2010 (in millions of CHF)[80]
Coins
10 francs
20 francs
50 francs
100 francs
200 francs
500 francs
1000 francs
Total
2,695.4
656.7
1,416.7
1,963.0
8,337.4
6,828.0
129.9
27,637.1
49,664.0
Combinations of up to 100 circulating Swiss coins (not including special or commemorative coins) are legal tender; banknotes arelegal tender for any amount.[81]
^Swiss Standard German:Franken,pronounced[ˈfraŋkn̩]ⓘ; French:franc; Italian:franco; Romansh:franc.
^Confoederatio helvetica is the official name of Switzerland inLatin.[13]
^The global value of those 200-franc notes in circulation in 2000 (5.1200 billion francs) was larger than the value of the 500-franc notes in 1996 (3.9123 billion), even when these figures are corrected for the global increase in total value of Swiss banknotes in circulation (+9%). Figures from theMonthly Statistical Bulletin of the Swiss National Bank, January 2006.
^The total sum is 200% because each currency trade is counted twice: once for the currency being bought and once for the currency being sold. The percentages above represent the proportion of all trades involving a given currency, regardless of which side of the transaction it is on.
^"Loi du 25 juin 1798".Bulletin des loix et décrets du Corps législatif de la République helvétique (in French). Henri Emanuel Vincent. 1798.
^Swiss Confederation (1851).Feuille fédérale suisse (in French). Vol. 1. Stämpfli. p. 3. for Brabant ecus of 400 rappen (4 old francs) or 5-franc coins of 350 rappen, one computes at 7 old francs to 10 new francs. Hence CHF 40 = 28 old francs = 7 kronenthalers. Also on p. 3: Old franc = 1.4597 CHF.
^Gold.orgArchived 22 July 2013 at theWayback Machine, Declaration of the Swiss Government, through the Federal Finance and Customs Department, and the National Bank of Switzerland regarding the purchase and sale of gold, inMonetary History of Gold: volume 3 – After the Gold Standard
^(de) Jürg Richter and Ruedi Kunzmann,Neuer HMZ-Katalog, volume 2: "Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15./16 Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart", (ISBN3-86646-504-1)
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