Catalog
100 Francs
| Issuer | Bank in Basel |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889-1905 |
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| Shape | Rectangular (hand cut) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 100 DIE BANK IN BASEL zahlt dem Überbringer, bei Sicht, HUNDERT FRANKEN 100 in gesetzlicher Barschaft. BASEL 15. Juni 1902. DER PRÄSIDENT : DER KASSIER : DER DIREKTOR : 100 |
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| Reverse lettering | 100 100 CENT FRANCS HUNDERT FRANKEN CENTO FRANCHI 100 100 |
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| Comments |
The "Bank in Basel" — formally the Bankverein in Basel — was one of several Swiss cantonal and private institutions that issued their own banknotes before the Swiss National Bank gained its monopoly in 1907. This 100 Francs note falls squarely in the transitional years when private issuance was still legal but increasingly contested, with the federal government pushing hard for centralization throughout the 1890s.
Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement is noteworthy — the New Malden firm was by this period the preferred security printer for numerous smaller European and colonial issuers who lacked the volume to justify domestic printing arrangements. The Basel bank's choice to contract London rather than a Swiss or German printer was a practical one, not a political statement.
Pick S147 is a scarcer entry; the series had a short effective window before federal reform ended private issue entirely.