10 Francs 2nd series, reserve banknote

Switzerland's reserve notes were printed in advance and held in secure storage against the possibility of wartime disruption to domestic printing capacity — a precaution the Federal Council took seriously after the pressures of 1914–1918. This 10 Francs belongs to that second reserve series, produced by Waterlow & Sons in London but never intended for ordinary circulation. The Nationalbank maintained strict controls over how and when reserve stocks were released, and many examples from this series were ultimately destroyed without ever passing through a cashier's window.

The underlying plate design drew on work by Lory the Younger and Moritz — both figures associated with early nineteenth-century Swiss artistic production — adapted and engraved by Drummond for steel intaglio reproduction at Waterlow's London facility.