20 Francs

The Caisse Hypothécaire du Canton de Fribourg was a cantonal mortgage institution, not a commercial bank — its note-issuing activity was an extension of its role as a state-backed lending body for property financing. Swiss cantonal note issue in this period was notoriously fragmented, with dozens of competing instruments circulating simultaneously before federal consolidation began in earnest after 1881.

Pick 252 is among the more obscure survivors of that pre-federal patchwork. Fribourg's conservative, predominantly Catholic political culture made it a latecomer to liberal banking reform, which partly explains why this institution rather than a joint-stock bank held issuing authority here as late as the 1850s.