100 Franken / Francs / Franchi

The Bank in Zürich was one of several dozen cantonal and private issuing banks operating in Switzerland before the Swiss National Bank's founding in 1907 consolidated the right of issue. This 100-franc note belongs to the competitive pluralist period when each bank backed its own notes and public confidence varied sharply between institutions. The trilingual denomination — German, French, Italian — reflects the federal compromise that governed Swiss commercial life long before a central authority existed to enforce uniformity.

Printed locally in Zürich rather than by one of the major European security printers, the production quality of these private-era Swiss notes is uneven across the series. Pick 608 is among the rarer survivors; most were redeemed and pulped after the transitional legislation of the 1890s began squeezing smaller issuers out of the market.