bavarikon4UPaper money in Switzerland
The forerunners of modern Switzerland were the Old Confederation, which had existed since the 13th century, the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803) and the Swiss Confederation (1803-1848). In 1848, the Federal Constitution came into force, organising Switzerland as a federal state and making the city of Bern the seat of government and parliament.
Switzerland's federal system is reflected in the history of paper money. Before Switzerland was established as a federal state, the right to mint coins and issue them lay with the respective cantons. The currency issued was mainly guilders or francs in coin form. Depending on the geographical location, German, French or even Dutch money was also in circulation. Banknotes, however, hardly played a role in the first half of the 19th century. The first paper money was issued in 1826 by the Deposita-Cassa of the city of Bern.
Only after the federal state was established and the Swiss franc was introduced as the single currency in 1850, were more and more central banks established. Their number therefore rose from eight institutes in 1848 to 36 in 1880. With the wider distribution of banknotes, a uniform regulation at federal level became necessary, which was reflected in the Banknote Act passed in 1881: the issuing banks were now managed and controlled at federal level. All issuing banks now issued uniform banknotes, called Concordat notes, which differed only in the bank name and signatures. In addition, the issuing banks undertook to mutually accept the banknotes as means of payment.
Efforts to create a central bank took some time to gain acceptance. The Swiss National Bank was finally established by the law of 6 October 1905. It replaced the private and state central banks and received the sole right to issue bonds. Both Bern and Zurich were declared as the bank's head office, a compromise between the cantons. Since new banknotes were to be issued as quickly as possible, the printing plates for the Concordat notes were used for production. The Swiss National Bank produced its first own banknote series between 1908 and 1910. As an independent central bank, it is still responsible for Switzerland's monetary and currency policy today.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Paper money in Europe" of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes).