Swiss franc

The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also used in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia, which is surrounded by Swiss land. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is responsible for printing the banknotes, and the federal mint Swissmint makes the coins.

The franc has special symbols used in different languages. In German, it is written as Fr., in French, Italian, and Romansh as fr., and in other languages as CHF, short for Confoederatio Helvetica Franc. CHF is the official code used by banks and financial institutions around the world.

The smallest part of a franc is called a Rappen (Rp.) in German, a centime (c.) in French, a centesimo (ct.) in Italian, and rap (rp.) in Romansh. These small pieces are important for everyday purchases and help people count money easily.

History

Before the Helvetic Republic

Before 1798, many places in Switzerland made their own coins. There were about 75 groups making coins, like 25 areas, 16 cities, and some religious places. This created about 860 different coins, each with different values. Most of these coins came from either the French livre tournois or the South German gulden. These coins were often used only in small amounts and in specific areas.

Helvetic Republic to Regeneration, 1798–1847

In 1798, the Helvetic Republic introduced the franc, modeled after the Bern livre. It was worth a quarter of the écu and was divided into smaller parts called batzen and rappen. This franc was used until 1803 but influenced many areas after that.

Franc of the Swiss Confederation, 1850–present

In 1850, Switzerland created the Swiss franc as its official money. It was set to match the French franc in value. Over time, the Swiss franc became known as a safe and stable currency. In 2000, Switzerland stopped linking the franc to gold, making it a regular currency like others.

2011–2014: Big movements and capping

In 2011, the Swiss franc became very strong, causing problems for businesses. To help, the Swiss National Bank set a minimum value for the franc compared to the euro. This helped for a while but was stopped in 2015.

End of capping

In January 2015, the Swiss National Bank stopped setting a minimum value for the franc. This caused the franc to become much stronger very quickly, which created problems for some businesses and traders.

2026 onwards

In January 2026, the Swiss franc became stronger against the U.S. dollar because of changes in trade policies and other world events. It had also gotten stronger in 2025.

Coins

Main article: Coins of the Swiss franc

Before 1700, coins in Switzerland were based on French or German money systems. After that, different Swiss areas used their own coins, but many people still used coins from other countries.

In 1850, Switzerland started making its own coins in many different values. These coins were made from metals like bronze, silver, and gold. Over time, the designs and sizes of the coins changed a little, but many of them are still used today. Some special coins made for special events are not used as regular money, but people can still exchange them for their value.

Circulating coins
Image	Value	Technical parameters					Description			Issued from
		Diameter (mm)	Thickness (mm)	Mass (g)	Composition		Edge	Obverse	Reverse
	5 c	17.15	1.25	1.80	Aluminium bronze: Cu: 92% Al: 6% Ni: 2%	Smooth	Liberty (Karl Schwenzer); year of issue; Lettering: CONFŒDERATIO HELVETICA	Value; mintmark; wreath of grapes	1981–present
	10 c	19.15	1.45	3.00	Cupronickel: Cu: 75% Ni: 25%			Value; mintmark; wreath of oak leaves	1879–1915 1919–1931 1940–present
	20 c	21.05	1.65	4.00				Value; mintmark; wreath of gentian	1939–present
	1⁄2 Fr	18.20	1.25	2.20		Reeded	Helvetia (Albert Walch); circle of 23 stars; Lettering: HELVETIA; A BOVY INCT	Value; mintmark; year of issue; wreath of oak leaves and gentian	1968–present
	1 Fr	23.20	1.55	4.40
	2 Fr	27.40	2.15	8.80
	5 Fr	31.45	2.35	13.20		Embossed lettering: DOMINUS PROVIDEBIT ★★★★★★★★★★★★★	Herdsman (Paul Burkhard); Lettering: CONFŒDERATIO HELVETICA; P BVRKHARD INCT	Coat of arms; edelweiss and gentian branches; value; mintmark; year of issue	1968–1983 1991–present

Banknotes

Main article: Banknotes of the Swiss franc

The Swiss National Bank started making paper money in 1907. They made notes in values of 50, 100, 500, and 1000 francs. Later, they added notes for 20 francs in 1911 and 5 francs in 1913. In 1996, they introduced a 200-franc note and stopped making 500-franc notes.

There have been nine sets of banknotes made by the Swiss National Bank. Seven of these sets have been used by people. The sixth set, made in 1976, showed scientists and was taken out of use in 2000. People can still trade these old notes for new ones at banks.

The eighth set of banknotes started in 1995. It focused on art and had a new design. The 500-franc note was replaced with a 200-franc note, which people liked better. The colors and sizes of the notes were also changed. All notes show information in Switzerland's four languages.

In 2016, the Swiss National Bank started a new set of banknotes. The first one was the 50-franc note. Later, notes for 20, 10, 200, 1000, and 100 francs were added. The old eighth series stopped being used in 2021 but can still be traded for new notes.

Eight series (1995–1998) Designer: Jörg Zintzmeyer
Image		Value	Dimensions (mm)	Main colour		Description		Issue	Withdrawn
Obverse	Reverse					Obverse	Reverse
		10 francs	74 × 126	Yellow	Le Corbusier	Ground plan, government district of Chandigarh, India	8 April 1995	30 April 2021
		20 francs	74 × 137	Red	Arthur Honegger	Pacific 231	1 October 1994
		50 francs	74 × 148	Green	Sophie Taeuber-Arp	Tête Dada, 1919	3 October 1995
		100 francs	74 × 159	Blue	Alberto Giacometti	L'Homme qui marche I	1 October 1998
		200 francs	74 × 170	Brown	Charles Ferdinand Ramuz	Lac de Derborence (Les Diablerets), Lavaux	1 October 1997
		1000 francs	74 × 181	Purple	Jacob Burckhardt	Palazzo Strozzi, Florence	1 April 1998
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Ninth series (2016–2018) Designer: Manuela Pfrunder
Image		Value	Dimensions (mm)	Main colour		Description			Issue
Obverse	Reverse					Theme (Swiss characteristic)	Obverse (action)	Reverse (location and object)
		10 francs	70 × 123	Yellow	Time Organisational talent	Hands conducting with a baton Globe: around the IDL, End of Day (Pacific Ocean); Time zones Background: Clock faces Security strip: Swiss rail network and its longest tunnels	Lötschberg Base Tunnel rail tracks, reducing travel time Watch's movement: symbolising strong organisational talent Rail network lines	18 October 2017
		20 francs	70 × 130	Red	Light Creativity	Hand with a prism and light Globe: 4 hours earlier (Pacific Ocean, Americas); constellations Background: Kaleidoscope Security strip: Night-time light emissions; distances in light seconds between Earth and celestial bodies	Light beaming a movie to a large outdoor screen on the Piazza Grande in Locarno during the Locarno Film Festival Butterfly: Light reveals the wings' colour Iris lines	17 May 2017
		50 francs	70 × 137	Green	Wind Wealth of experiences	Hand holding a dandelion; pappi carried by the wind Globe: another 4 hours earlier (Africa, Americas); wind directions Background: Wind flow arrows Security strip: Swiss Alps and four-thousand-metre peaks list	Wind streaming around the Swiss Alps's glaciated mountain peaks Paraglider: the wind keeping it aloft Contour lines: evokes the Swiss varied landscapes	12 April 2016
		100 francs	70 × 144	Blue	Water Humanitarian tradition	Hands holding, providing water Globe: another 4 hours earlier (Europe, Africa); isobars and contour lines Security strip: Switzerland's rivers and its longest rivers	Water flowing alongside a mountain side in Valais German: Suonen/French: des bisses: irrigation channels	12 September 2019
		200 francs	70 × 151	Brown	Matter Scientific expertise	Hand pointing to the three dimensions (right-hand rule) Globe: another 4 hours earlier (Africa, Eurasia); Late Cretaceous period land masses Security strip: Swiss geological ages map; timeline of the universe's formation stages	Signals from a particle collision in a detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva Particle collision map	22 August 2018
		1000 francs	70 × 158	Purple	Language Communicative flair	Handshake Globe: another 4 hours earlier, Start of Day (Eastern Asia, Australia); IPA letters Security strip: Map of the Swiss language regions; list of Swiss cantons	Holding speeches in different languages in the Swiss parliament during the Federal Assembly at Bern Relation graph	13 March 2019
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Circulation

The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also used in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia. Even though it is not the official money in the German area of Büsingen am Hochrhein, many people there use it every day and many prices are shown in Swiss francs. The Swiss franc is the only type of franc still used in Europe.

As of March 2010, the total value of Swiss coins and banknotes in use was 49.664 billion Swiss francs.

You can use up to 100 regular Swiss coins to make payments, and banknotes can be used for any amount.

Current exchange rates