Banknotes of the Swiss franc

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The first banknotes in Switzerland were issued in 1907. Since then, eight series of Swiss franc notes have been printed, six of which have been released for use by the general public, and a new series is in preparation as of 2006.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Overview of all series of Swiss banknotes[1]
Series Introduction Date recalled Valueless since Designer Remark
1st 1907 1 July 1925 1 July 1945 Josef Storck and Albert Walch Changeover notes, similar to notes used by earlier banks
2nd 1911 1 October 1958 1 October 1978 Eugène Burnand, Ferdinand Hodler, S. Balzer
3rd 1918 1 July 1925 1 July 1945 Orell Füssli War notes; only partially issued
4th 1938 — — Victor Surbeck and Hans Erni Reserve series, never issued
5th 1956 1 May 1980 1 May 2000 Pierre Gauchat and Hermann Eidenbenz
6th 1976 1 May 2000 1 May 2020 Ernst and Ursula Hiestand
7th — — — Elisabeth and Roger Pfund Current reserve series; not issued
8th 1995 — — Jörg Zintzmeyer Current series
9th — — Manuela Pfrunder planned

[edit] All series of Swiss banknotes

[edit] First series

1st series of Swiss banknotes[2]
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse issue withdrawal lapse
50 francs 166 × 103 mm Green/Yellow Helvetia Ornaments 20 June 1907 1 July 1925 1 July 1945
100 francs 183 × 116 mm Blue Helvetia Ornaments
500 francs 199 × 126 mm Green Helvetia Ornaments
1000 francs 215 × 132 mm Purple Helvetia Ornaments
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Second series

The second series of Swiss banknotes was issued between 1911 and 1914.[3]

2nd series of Swiss banknotes[3]
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Notes
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse issue withdrawal lapse
5 francs 148 × 70 mm Brown/Green William Tell Ornaments 3 August 1914 1 May 1980 1 May 2000
10 francs 135 × 82 mm Brown/Yellow Woman from Neuchâtel Ornaments — — — Reserve note
20 francs 163 × 95 mm Blue/purple Vreneli Ornaments 31 July 1914 31 December 1935 1 January 1956
50 francs 165 × 106 mm Green Woman's head Woodcutter 22 December 1911 1 October 1958 1 October 1978
100 francs 181 × 115 mm Dark blue Woman's head Reaper 16 September 1911 1 October 1958 1 October 1978
500 francs 200 × 125 mm Red/Brown Woman's head Embroideres 24 December 1912 1 October 1958 1 October 1978
1000 francs 216 × 131 mm Purple/Orange Woman's head Foundry 16 September 1911 1 October 1958 1 October 1978
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 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.[4]

[edit] Fourth series

The fourth series of Swiss banknotes was printed in 1938 as a reserve series and was never issued.[5]

[edit] Fifth series

The fifth series of Swiss banknotes was issued starting in 1957.[6]

[edit] Sixth series

6th series of Swiss banknotes[7]
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse issue withdrawal lapse
10 francs 137 × 66 mm Red Leonhard Euler 5 November 1979 1 May 2000 1 May 2020
20 francs 148 × 70 mm Blue Horace-Bénédict de Saussure 4 April 1979
50 francs 159 × 74 mm Green Conrad Gessner 4 October 1978
100 francs 170 × 78 mm Dark blue Francesco Borromini 4 October 1976
500 francs 181 × 82 mm Brown Albrecht von Haller 4 April 1977
1000 francs 192 × 86 mm Purple Auguste Forel 4 April 1978
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Seventh series

A fragment of the seventh series of Swiss banknotes
A fragment of the seventh series of Swiss banknotes

A seventh series of Swiss banknotes has been designed and printed in parallel with the sixth series. It is part of the current reserve series, to be released, for example, if the current series would suddenly become widely counterfeited. For security reasons, almost no information has been released on this series except for small fragments initially. [8] The designer was Roger Pfund.[9][10]

[edit] Eighth series

8th (current) series of Swiss banknotes[11]
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Obverse Date of issue Remarks
Obverse Reverse
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
200 francs 170 × 74 mm Brown Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1 October 1997 Replaces the 500 francs
banknote in the previous series
1000 francs 181 × 74 mm Purple Jacob Burckhardt 1 April 1998
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Ninth series

The ninth series of Swiss franc banknotes, based on designs by Manuela Pfrunder, is scheduled to be issued in 2010 [12].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ All banknote series of the SNB, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 30 October 2006.
  2. ^ First banknote series 1907, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 8 December 2006.
  3. ^ a b Second banknote series 1911, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 9 December 2006.
  4. ^ Third banknote series 1918, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 9 December 2006.
  5. ^ Fourth banknote series 1938, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 9 December 2006.
  6. ^ Fifth banknote series 1957, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 9 December 2006.
  7. ^ Sixth banknote series 1976, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 30 October 2006.
  8. ^ http://www.nachthund.biz/CatalogUpdate/Switzerland/SWI1206-01.html Accessed 04/03/2007
  9. ^ Seventh banknote series, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 4 December 2006.
  10. ^ Jean-Marc Côté, "Habiller l'argent : Roger Pfund", Bulletin de l'Association des Numismates Francophones du Canada.
  11. ^ Eighth banknote series 1995, on the web site of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 30 October 2006.
  12. ^ http://www.nachthund.biz/CatalogUpdate/Switzerland/SWI0307-01.html Accessed 2007-03-07
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