| Descripción del anverso |
The obverse is printed in black intaglio on white paper with a vertical text strip along the left margin carrying the issuer's name. A central vignette in an oval frame presents a classical female figure seated with attributes of commerce or agriculture, flanked by ornate guilloche panels bearing the numeral 50 at lower left and upper right corners. The header reads CAISSE HYPOTHÉCAIRE & DE CRÉDIT DU CANTON DU VALAIS À MONTHEY (SUISSE), with the denomination CINQUANTE FRANCS in large letterpress below, and three signature lines for administrators and the director; the emission date 1er AOÛT 1871 and Série A appear at the lower edge. |
| Leyenda del anverso |
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| Descripción del reverso |
The reverse is printed in blue on white paper with a clean, typographic layout. Two large guilloche ovals carrying the numeral 50 flank a central oval bearing the Swiss cantonal arms of Valais — a shield with a white cross above horizontal stripes — within a laurel wreath. The issuer's name CAISSE HYPOTHÉCAIRE & DE CRÉDIT DU CANTON DU VALAIS arches across the top, and the inscription AUTORISÉE PAR L'ÉTAT / CAPITAL SOCIAL: 2,000,000 DE FRANCS is set in bold letterpress at the base. |
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The Caisse Hypothécaire du Canton du Valais was a cantonal mortgage and credit institution, not a commercial bank — its authority to issue circulating paper currency was always legally ambiguous under Swiss federal law. This note predates the 1881 Bank Notes Act, which finally forced cantonal and private issuers to either meet strict reserve requirements or exit the note-issuing business entirely. The Valais caisse did not survive that consolidation as an issuer.
Pick 586 is among the rarer Swiss cantonal private issues of the period. Most surviving examples show heavy fold wear, consistent with active regional circulation rather than hoarding.