2 Francs Helvetia seated, 90% silver

Switzerland's federal coinage system didn't exist before 1850. The Helvetic Republic had collapsed half a century earlier, and the intervening decades saw cantons issuing their own incompatible currencies — over eight hundred distinct coin types circulating simultaneously. The 1848 federal constitution finally forced consolidation, and this 2 Franc piece was among the first coins struck under the new centralized authority, with production contracted to the Paris Mint since Bern had no facility capable of the work.

The series was short-lived. By 1857 the seated Helvetia type was already being phased toward design revisions, and surviving examples from the earliest dates show heavier circulation wear consistent with a population starved of reliable coinage for decades.