CHF – Swiss Franc
Monetary System
1 Swiss franc (CHF) = 100 rappen/centime/centesimo/rap
Replacements
Switzerland is not known to have ever issued replacement notes.
Swiss National Bank
Schweizerische Nationalbank
The Swiss National Bank was established on 20 June 1907 with its headquarters in Zurich. For more information, visit www.snb.ch.
2015 – 2017 9th Series Issues
These notes were designed by Zurich-based graphic artist Manuela Pfrunder, who placed second in the SNB’s design competition in November 2005. Pfrunder’s original designs for the six notes (ranging from 10 to 1,000 Swiss francs) required extensive reworking, both artistically and technically, before production began in mid-2008. This series of notes was inspired by the theme “The many facets of Switzerland.” The new family consists of the same denominations as the preceding family, but the notes are reduced in size for easier handling.
“The new notes were designed by Manuela Pfrunder and printed by Orell Füssli Security Printing Ltd using an innovative, three-layer banknote substrate (Durasafe: two outer layers of cotton banknote paper fused together with a central core of transparent polymer). The combination of complex security features and sophisticated design provides state-of-the-art anti-counterfeiting protection. The new series equips Switzerland with banknotes that are both more modern and more secure than the previous generation.”
Security features include intaglio printing, latent images, microtext, holographic stripes, microperf Swiss cross, Omron rings, multicolor Swiss cross as registration device, watermarks, security fibers, UV printing, raised lines to help visually impaired determine denominations.
In April 2019, the 9th series notes from the Swiss National Bank won the “Best New Banknote Series” award at the High Security Printing EMEA Conference in Malta.
Description: 10.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 123 x 70 mm
Yellow. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Swiss cross; conductor’s human hands holding baton; multicolor Swiss cross as registration device; time zone motif over globe; clock face pattern in underprint. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Swiss railroad tunnel; exploded view of watch movement; Swiss rail network lines in underprint. Holographic security stripe with 10, Swiss rail network and longest tunnels. Windowed security thread with demetalized Swiss flag and 10. Watermark: Swiss flag and globe. Printer: orell füssli security printing ltd. 123 x 70 mm. Composite (Durasafe).
This note focuses on Switzerland’s organizational talent, expressed by time.This note was honored as the IBNS Bank Note of the Year 2017.
Description: 20.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 130 x 70 mm
Red. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Swiss cross; human hand holding prism through which light is dispersed into various colors; multicolor Swiss cross as registration device; light motif over globe in purple SPARK; kaleidoscopic pattern in underprint. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; butterflies in flight; light projected on screen at film festival; human eye iris lines in underprint. Holographic security stripe with 20, night-time light emissions on map of Switzerland and distances (in light seconds) between various celestial bodies and earth. Windowed security thread with demetalized Swiss flag and 20. Watermark: Swiss flag and globe. Printer: orell füssli security printing ltd. 130 x 70 mm. Composite (Durasafe).
Description: 50.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 137 x 70 mm
Green. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Swiss cross; human hand holding a dandelion flower, with the wind carrying the seeds; multicolor Swiss cross as registration device; wind currents over globe in gold SPARK; wind currents in underprint. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; paraglider above mountains; contour lines in underprint. Holographic security stripe with 50, outline of Switzerland, names of Swiss Alps, and Swiss crosses. Windowed security thread with demetalized Swiss flag and 50. Watermark: Swiss flag and globe. Printer: Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich. 137 x 70 mm. Composite (Durasafe).
This note was honored as the IBNS Bank Note of the Year 2016.
Description: 100.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 144 x 70 mm
Blue. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Swiss cross; two cupped human hands scooping water; multicolor Swiss cross as registration device; isobars over globe in purple SPARK. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; wooden water flume on cliff face irrigating fields below. Holographic security stripe with 100, network of waterways and list of longs rivers on map of Switzerland. Windowed security thread with demetalized Swiss flag and 100. Watermark: Swiss flag and globe. Printer: orell füssli security printing ltd. 144 x 70 mm. Composite (Durasafe).
Description: 200.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 151 x 70 mm
Brown. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Swiss cross; human hand with fingers pointing in three spatial dimensions in which matter expands; multicolor Swiss cross as registration device; land mass motif over globe in green SPARK. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; particle detector; particle collision. Holographic security stripe with 200, abstract map of geological ages of Switzerland, and timeline of formation of the universe. Windowed security thread with demetalized Swiss flag and 200. Watermark: Swiss flag and globe. Printer: orell füssli security printing ltd. 151 x 70 mm. Composite (Durasafe).
Description: 1,000.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 158 x 70 mm
Purple. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Swiss cross; human hands shaking; multicolor Swiss cross as registration device; phonetic alphabet over globe in gold SPARK. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; parliament; abstract design of open network. Holographic security stripe with 1000, abstract map of language regions of Switzerland and neighboring countries and names of Swiss cantons. Windowed security thread with demetalized Swiss flag and 1000. Watermark: Swiss flag and globe. Printer: orell füssli security printing ltd. 158 x 70 mm. Composite (Durasafe).
1994 – 2018 8th Series Issues
The eighth-series banknotes were recalled as of 30 April 2021 and are thus no longer legal tender.
Description: 10.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 126 x 74 mm
Information: Outmoded and redeemable notes.
Yellow. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; architect, urbanist, painter, and theoretician Le Corbusier. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; The Palace of Justice at Chandigarh; façade of the secretariat “Modulor” Secretariat building. Windowed security thread. Watermark: Le Corbusier. Printer: Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich. 126 x 74 mm. Paper.
Description: 20.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 137 x 74 mm
Information: Outmoded and redeemable notes.
Red. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; composer Arthur Honegger. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; orchestral works; Pacific 231 locomotive; musical score; work instrument. Windowed security thread. Watermark: Arthur Honegger. Printer: Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich. 137 x 74 mm. Paper.
Description: 50.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 148 x 74 mm
Information: Outmoded and redeemable notes.
Green. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; painter, handicraftswoman, and sculptor Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Relief rectangulaire; Tête Dada; Composition Aubette; Lignes ouvertes. Windowed security thread. Watermark: Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Printer: Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich. 148 x 74 mm. Paper.
Description: 100.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 159 x 74 mm
Information: Outmoded and redeemable notes.
Blue. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; Lotar ll; Homme qui marche; Time-space relationship. Windowed security thread. Watermark: Alberto Giacometti. Printer: Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich. 159 x 74 mm. Paper.
Description: 200.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 170 x 74 mm
Information: Outmoded and redeemable notes.
Brown. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; mountain world; lake; manuscript. Windowed security thread. Watermark: Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. Printer: Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich. 170 x 74 mm. Paper.
Description: 1,000.00 CHF – Swiss Franc Size: 181 x 74 mm
Information: Outmoded and redeemable notes.
Purple. Front (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; historian of art and culture Jacob Burckhardt. Back (vertical): French, German, Italian, and Romansch text; antiquity; Ancient Architecture; The Renaissance; view of history. Windowed security thread. Watermark: Jacob Burckhardt. Printer: Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich. 181 x 74 mm. Paper.
