100 Franken

The Graubündner Kantonalbank was one of several Swiss cantonal banks granted note-issuing rights under the 1852 federal framework, before the Swiss National Bank consolidated that privilege in 1907. This 100 Franken note predates that centralization by three decades, placing it squarely in the pluralist era of Swiss private and cantonal emission — a period when more than thirty separate institutions circulated their own paper across the confederation.

Graubünden's geographic isolation and heavy reliance on seasonal alpine trade gave cantonal notes a practical role that persisted longer here than in more urbanized cantons. Surviving examples from this 1878 issue are genuinely uncommon; the 1907 redemption process swept up most outstanding stock.