100 Francs Neuchâtel Cantonal Bank

The Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise was one of several cantonal institutions operating before the Swiss National Bank's founding in 1907 effectively ended the era of decentralized Swiss note issue. This 100 Francs note falls within the final decades of that pluralistic system, during which dozens of cantonal and private banks competed — and occasionally failed — as currency issuers. Neuchâtel's canton leaned on Bradbury Wilkinson for its security printing, a London firm that supplied notes to a remarkably wide range of smaller sovereign and sub-sovereign issuers across Europe during this period.

The series ran across more than two decades, which typically produces meaningful variation in serial numbering and signatory combinations worth examining closely.