Banknotes of the Swiss franc

The first banknotes in Switzerland were issued in 1825 by the "Caisse de Dépôt" of the city of Berne [ [http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F13750.php?PHPSESSID=d9256e4f53ecad848edcc0214a1ad16f Billets de banque] in Historical Dictionary of Switzerland; A. Meier: "Monnaies...."] .

During the 19th century the Cantons had the right of printing notes. Following the law of 8 March 1881 the Swiss National Bank had the exclusive right to issue banknotes in Switzerland. First notes of the 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 2007.

Overview

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. [ [http://www.snb.ch/en/iabout/cash/history/id/cash_history_serie3 Third banknote series 1918] , on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.]

Fourth series

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

eventh series

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 designer 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 Pfund were charged with the design of the reserve series. [ [http://www.snb.ch/en/iabout/cash/history/id/cash_history_serie7 Seventh banknote series] , on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 30 September 2007.] [Jean-Marc Côté, " [http://www.cam.org/~anfc/pfund.htm Habiller l'argent : Roger Pfund] ", Bulletin de l'Association des Numismates Francophones du Canada. Last accessed 1 June 2007.]

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. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/07/business/embryo.php Swiss distressed over currency redesign, 8 December 2005 article] on the website of the International Herald Tribune. Last accessed 1 June 2007.] 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. [ [http://www.snb.ch/en/iabout/cash/newcash/id/cash_new_result New banknotes project] on the website of the Swiss National Bank. Last accessed 1 June 2007.]

Notes

Sources

* Michel de Rivaz, "The Swiss banknote: 1907–1997". Genoud, 1997. ISBN 2-88100-080-0
* Albert Meier: "Monnaies - Billets de Banque. Suisse - Liechtenstein 1798-1995". Hünibach 1996