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5 Francs - Federal Treasury Italian text
| Issuer | Federal Treasury of Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Blue-tinted note with a portrait vignette of Libertas at left and Arnold Winkelried at right, framed by ornamental borders. The Swiss arms appear at top center, with Italian-language text throughout. Denomination numeral "5" repeated at corners. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blue on light ground, the reverse is dominated by an elaborate central guilloche medallion with dense lathe-work scrollwork in an oval cartouche. The denomination is rendered in all three Swiss national languages arranged vertically within the central band, with large numeral "5" flanking left and right. A fine ornamental border of repeating foliate and arabesque motifs frames the entire design, with the trilingual denomination legend repeated in small lettering along the outer edges. |
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| Comments |
Switzerland entered the First World War in a state of financial shock. The Swiss National Bank suspended gold convertibility in August 1914, and the Federal Treasury stepped in with these emergency fractional notes to address the sudden disappearance of coin from circulation — hoarding was immediate and severe. The Italian-language face of P#16 reflects Switzerland's constitutional trilingualism, with parallel French and German versions issued simultaneously under the same Pick series.
Stückelberg was primarily a painter and muralist, best known for his monumental frescos in Basel's Münster. His involvement in banknote design was unusual for a figure of that standing, and the Treasury's choice of him signals how seriously the confederation took even emergency paper.