Catalog
20 Francs 6th series
| Issuer | Swiss National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1978-1992 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Vertical-format reverse in blue and multicolour intaglio tones, centred on a vignette of an early Alpine mountaineering expedition traversing a glacial landscape, evoking the scientific explorations of de Saussure. A fossil motif is incorporated into the compositional elements, reinforcing the naturalist and geological themes of the sixth series. Issuing authority inscriptions appear in all four national languages alongside the denomination, printer's imprint, and designers' credit. |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The sixth series was designed in the late 1960s and early 1970s but held in reserve as a contingency — Swiss policy at the time required a complete replacement series to be ready before the current one was withdrawn. This note spent years in the vault before ever reaching circulation, part of a system that meant Switzerland effectively always had two generations of currency in existence simultaneously.
Ernst and Ursula Hiestand brought a graphic design sensibility unusual for central bank currency, rooted in the Swiss International Style. Orell Füssli, printing in Zurich since the sixteenth century, handled the entire series domestically — one of the few countries printing its own currency entirely in-house at that point.