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A Brief History Of The Gold Swiss Franc

Swiss gold coins have been found dating back to the year 1492. Since 1896, the Swiss gold franc has been one of the oldest normally traded gold coins in the world market.

Swiss “Vreneli,” referring to the ”Swiss Miss,” coins were struck from 1897 and 1936 and then in 1947 and 1949 with declared values of 10, 20 and 100 Swiss francs. The gold Swiss Franc holds a gold content fineness of .900, which is normal for gold issued coins and the 90% gold and 10% copper alloy allows for a more durable coin in order to withstand the rigors of coins meant for circulation.

There are approximately 61 million Gold Swiss Franc coins issued with only 5,000 of the 100 francs struck in the year 1925. The most common is the 20 franc, and has been spoken of as the “Euro before the euro”, on account of its wide circulation. The Vreneli are prized for their actual gold content as well as their appeal to collectors. One of the interesting bits of historical lore is that some of the gold that makes up the Vreneli coinage is said to have come from the Madre de Dios, Peruvian gold mines.

A New Design Steeped In History

In 1895 a competition was launched to creatively update the obverse, or front, side of the previous Helvetia coin, and an artist from Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Fritz Ulysse Landry, was finally charged with the reworking by the Swiss Federal Council. His name, “F. LANDRY,” can be seen below the image of the Swiss Miss.

All coins from Switzerland are, as one might expect, neutral in terms of language. With respect to Switzerland’s four national languages, coins feature only numerals, “Fr.”, the abbreviation for franc, and the Latin phrase “Helvetia”. Since it’s begining, 22 stars in relief have dotted the edge of the coin until the year 1935.

The name “Helvetia” can be followed back to Roman days when the term was used for the tribe of Gauls that inhabiting the Swiss Plateau. Celtic in origin, the “Helvetii” were defeated by Julius Caesar in 58 B.C. in the course of his celebrated Gallic campaign (“I came, I saw, I conquered”), leading to his coronation as the first Roman Emperor.

The coin design exhibits the word “HELVETIA” over what is thought to be the Swiss portrayal of “Lady Liberty,” probably modeled by Françoise Engli. The term Vreneli is reported to come from “Verena” which is a female image that represents the Confederation of Switzerland. Around Vreneli’s neck is a garland of flowers, probably Edelweiss. In the background the commanding Swiss Alps are depicted.

The reverse, or back, of the coins shows the Swiss shield, with the Swiss Cross, the year of issue, a wreath of oak branches, which symbolize strength and independence. The branches are bedecked with ribbons and the denomination, as well as FR (for Swiss francs) is inscribed around the Swiss shield. Minted at the Swiss Mint in Bern, it displays a prominent “B” mintmark to the right of the date on the reverse side.

Minting in Bern Near The Center Of Switzerland

Bern resides on the Swiss plateau in the Canton of Bern, just west of central Switzerland and 12 miles north of the Bernese Alps. During times of war it has been a neutral element throughout times of war and was a familiar area for finance for nearby nations.

During 1935, 175,000 strikes of the 20 franc coins were minted. There were an additional twenty million (20,008,813) coins marked “L1935B” with the “L” signifying “lingot” or bullion and the “B” identifying the Bern mint, were re-minted in 1945 (3,500,000), 1946 (7,108,813) and 1947 (9,400,000). An extra 9,200,000 coins were minted then and dated as 1947 were also issued and carry the mint mark “B”.