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20 Francs - Federal Treasury German text
| Issuer | Swiss Federal Treasury (Eidgenössische Staatskasse) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Ernst Stückelberg |
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| Obverse description | Blue-toned note with a vignette of Libertas at left and Arnold Winkelried at right, flanking the central text panel. The Swiss federal arms appear at top center, with the denomination numeral 20 repeated at each corner within ornamental guilloche borders. The entire composition is executed in German text, consistent with the Eidgenössische Staatskasse issue of 1914. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 20 VINGT FRANCS ZWANZIG FRANKEN VENTI FRANCHI 20 |
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| Comments |
Switzerland's Federal Treasury — not the Swiss National Bank — issued this note as a wartime emergency measure in August 1914, days after general mobilization was declared. The SNB lacked the statutory authority to issue small denominations quickly enough, so the Confederation stepped in directly. These Kassenscheine were a stopgap, never intended for long-term circulation.
Stückelberg was a Basel painter of considerable reputation, better known for monumental historical canvases than banknote work. His involvement here was part of a broader pre-war commissioning effort to produce notes with genuine artistic credentials rather than purely commercial engraving.
The German-language version is one of three parallel issues — French and Italian texts were printed simultaneously to serve Switzerland's linguistic regions.