20 Francs 7th series, reserve banknote

The 7th series was designed in the 1970s but held entirely in reserve — never released into general circulation. The Swiss National Bank maintained it as a contingency against catastrophic disruption to the main supply, a policy unique among central banks of that period. The Pfunds' design work on this series was completed well before the notes were actually printed, meaning the aesthetic belongs firmly to an earlier decade than the production date suggests.

Pierre Schopfer's engraving is the finest technical element here. Orell Füssli has handled Swiss federal printing since the nineteenth century, but the reserve series represents some of the most deliberately unexamined work in their output — produced in quantity, warehoused, and ultimately demonetized without most of it ever crossing a counter.