Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Francs - Federal Treasury Italian text
| Issuer | Federal Treasury of Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Francs (20 CHF) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 20 LA CASSA FEDERALE pagare in contanti al portatore CINQUE FRANCHI valuta legale Berna 10 Agosto 1914. DIPART. DELLE FINANZE CASSA FEDERALE 20 20 |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries trilingual denomination inscriptions in French, German, and Italian against a decorative guilloche underprint, with the value numeral 20 repeated at left and right. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Switzerland's Federal Treasury — not the Swiss National Bank — issued this note as an emergency measure in August 1914, days after the outbreak of the First World War triggered a run on gold and forced suspension of specie payments. The SNB had only been operational since 1907 and lacked the infrastructure to respond alone; the Treasury stepped in with its own Kassenscheine series to plug the immediate liquidity gap.
Stückelberg, primarily known as a painter of historical murals, had designed the series before the war, which is why the notes carry an artist's sensibility rather than the more mechanical engraver's aesthetic typical of contemporary Swiss issues. The Italian-text variant served Switzerland's Ticino population and border commerce with Italy.