Catalog
20 Francs
| Issuer | Caisse Hypothécaire du Canton de Fribourg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1865-1891 |
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| Currency | Franc (1851-1906) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in red-brown on white paper, the note is laid out within an ornate typographic border composed of intricate guilloche and scrollwork frames. The central text panel carries the issuer's name and the denomination VINGT FRANCS in bold letterpress, flanked by large numeral 20 cartouches on both sides; the canton of Fribourg coat of arms appears at the top centre. Three manuscript signature lines for Le Caissier, Le Président du Conseil de Surveillance, and Le Directeur are provided below the place-and-date line, with series and number fields printed at top and bottom margins. A stub with handwritten register fields remains attached to the left edge. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse shows a mirror impression of the obverse printing visible through the paper, confirming the note was printed on one side only; no independent design, lettering, or security elements are present on this face. |
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| Comments |
The Caisse Hypothécaire du Canton de Fribourg was a cantonal mortgage institution, not a commercial bank — its note-issuing authority derived from its role financing agricultural and real estate credit in a predominantly rural, Catholic canton that was slower than its neighbours to centralize financial activity. Swiss cantonal note issuance was already under pressure from the federalizing impulse that would culminate in the Banque Nationale Suisse, chartered in 1905, and this series represents one of the later private-cantonal emissions squeezed out by that process.
The twenty-six-year issue window is wide enough that date variants likely exist across the series.