Catalog
25 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de Dépôt et d'Émission de Chaux-de-Fonds |
|---|---|
| Year | 1848 |
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| Size | 180 × 120 mm |
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| Obverse description | Typeset and engraved note printed in black on cream paper, with an intricate guilloche border framing the entire face. The bank title BANQUE de DÉPOT & d'ÉMISSION is set in bold display lettering at centre, below the place name CHAUX de FONDS, with the denomination BON pr. VINGT CINQ Francs enclosed within a dark oval guilloche vignette at centre. The four corners carry numeral counters reading 25, and two manuscript signatures appear at lower centre alongside printed signature labels in blue letterpress. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 25 25 CHAUX de FONDS BANQUE de DÉPÔT & d'ÉMISSION autorisée par le Gouvernement provisoire Bon pr. VINGT CINQ Francs Le Contrefacteur sera puni. au porteur LE COMMISSAIRE DU GOUVERNEMENT PROVISOIRE PRÈS LA BANQUE Le Directeur 25 25 |
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| Comments |
The Banque de Dépôt et d'Émission de Chaux-de-Fonds was one of the cantonal and private note-issuing institutions that proliferated in Switzerland before federal banking consolidation. La Chaux-de-Fonds, deep in the Neuchâtel Jura, was then a watchmaking center rather than a financial capital — the bank's existence owed more to industrial credit needs than to any ambition in high finance. 1848 was a turbulent year across Europe, and Switzerland was not untouched: the new federal constitution adopted that year would, over the following decades, lay the groundwork for the note-issue reforms that eventually extinguished institutions like this one.
Survivors are rare. The Swiss cantonal note-issuing period ended abruptly enough that most provincial paper was redeemed and pulped rather than preserved.