5 Francs - Federal Treasury Italian text

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.