Swiss franc facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Swiss franc
9th Series Banknotes Coins
ISO 4217 Code	CHF
Official user(s)	Switzerland  Liechtenstein  Italy Campione d'Italia, Italy
Unofficial user(s)	Büsingen am Hochrhein, Germany
Inflation	2.1% in 2023
Source	Statistik Schweiz
Subunit
1⁄100	Rappen  (German) centime  (French) centesimo  (Italian) rap  (Romansh)
Nickname	Swiss German (one selection, terms vary in different dialects): Füfräppler for a 5 centimes coin; Zëhräppler for a 10 centimes coin; Zwänzgräppler for a 20 centimes coin; Stutz or Franke for a 1 franc coin or change in general; Füüfliiber for a 5 francs coin; Rappe and Batze are specifically used for coin below 1 franc, but also figuratively for change in general Swiss Standard German: Einfränkler for a 1 franc coin; Zweifränkler for a 2 francs coin; Hunderter for a 100 francs note; Ameise for a 1000 francs note Swiss French: balle(s) for ≥ 1 franc; thune for a 5 franc coin Swiss Italian:
Plural	Franken  (German) francs  (French) franchi  (Italian) francs  (Romansh)
Coins
Freq. used	5, 10, 20 Centimes, 1⁄2, 1, 2, 5 Francs
Banknotes
Freq. used	10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 1000 Francs
Printer	Orell Füssli

The Swiss franc is the money used in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also accepted in Campione d'Italia, a small part of Italy surrounded by Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank makes the banknotes (paper money), and Swissmint makes the coins.

The Swiss franc is often called Fr. in German, and fr. in French, Italian, and Romansh. You might also see it as CHF, which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica Franc. This is a Latin name for Switzerland. Banks and financial groups use CHF as its official code.

A franc is divided into 100 smaller parts. These are called Rappen in German, centime in French, centesimo in Italian, and rap in Romansh.

History of the Swiss Franc

Early Money in Switzerland

French ecu stamped "40 BZ" (batzen) in Bern became 4 franken under the Helvetic Republic

Before 1798, many different groups in Switzerland made their own coins. There were about 75 different places making money, including 25 cantons (like states) and cities. This meant there were around 860 different coins! It was very confusing because each coin had a different value. Most of these coins were based on the French livre or the German gulden.

People mostly used foreign coins like French francs because they were accepted everywhere. Local Swiss coins were often only good in one canton.

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  Bernese Rollbatzen, 15th century

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  Basel taler (1690)

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  Zürich taler (1768)

The First Swiss Franc (1798–1847)

In 1798, a new government called the Helvetic Republic created the first unified Swiss franc. It was based on the Bern livre and was divided into 10 batzen or 100 rappen (centimes). This franc was used until 1803.

After 1815, Switzerland tried to make its money system simpler again. But by 1820, there were still 8,000 different coins in use! In 1825, some cantons agreed to make similar coins called Konkordanzbatzen. These coins had the canton's symbol but were worth the same everywhere.

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  32 Franken gold coin of the Helvetic Republic (1800)

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  40 Batzen coin of Vaud (1812)

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  Bernese Konkordatsbatzen (1826)

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  1 franc coin of Vaud (1845)

The Modern Swiss Franc (1850–Present)

The old system with many different coins was still a problem. In 1848, Switzerland's new constitution said that only the federal government could make money. Two years later, in 1850, the modern Swiss franc was officially created.

The new Swiss franc was made to be worth the same as the French franc. In 1865, Switzerland joined the Latin Monetary Union with France, Belgium, and Italy. They all agreed to make their money worth the same amount of silver or gold.

The Swiss franc has often been seen as a "safe" currency. This means people trust it, especially during uncertain times. For a long time, Swiss law said that at least 40% of the franc's value had to be backed by gold. But this rule ended in 2000. Now, the franc is fiat money, meaning its value comes from trust in the government, not from being backed by gold.

Exchange rates with the euro and U.S. dollar, 2003–2006

Big Changes: 2011–2015

Euro – Swiss franc exchange rate from 1999

Around 2011, the Swiss franc became very strong. This happened because of money problems in other parts of Europe. Many people wanted to put their money in Switzerland because it felt safer. This made Swiss products more expensive for other countries to buy.

To help its economy, the Swiss National Bank decided in September 2011 to set a minimum exchange rate for the franc against the euro. This meant that one euro would always be worth at least 1.20 Swiss francs. The bank said it would buy as much foreign money as needed to keep this rate. This was a big surprise to many people.

However, on January 15, 2015, the Swiss National Bank suddenly removed this minimum exchange rate. This caused the franc to become much stronger very quickly, especially against the euro. It was a huge shock to financial markets and caused some currency traders to lose a lot of money.

Swiss Coins

Coins of the Swiss Confederation

In 1850, Switzerland started making new coins. These included 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 centimes, and 1⁄2, 1, 2, and 5 francs. The smaller coins were made of bronze or a mix of metals. The franc coins were made of silver.

Over the years, the materials used for coins changed. For example, nickel replaced other metals in some coins. Gold coins were also made, called Vreneli, but they stopped being used in 1936.

During the world wars, some coins were temporarily made from brass and zinc. In the 1960s, silver coins became worth more as metal than as money, so people started melting them down. The government tried to stop this.

The 1 centime coin was made until 2006 but was not used much. It was officially removed from circulation in 2007. The 2 centime coin was removed even earlier, in 1978.

5 Swiss francs coin minted in 1889

The designs of Swiss coins have not changed much since 1879. One interesting change happened in 1983. The 1 franc coin, which shows a ring of stars, changed from 22 stars to 23. This was because Jura became the 23rd canton of Switzerland in 1979.

1 Swiss franc coin minted in 1995

The 10 centime coins made since 1879 (with a few exceptions) have the same size, material, and design as today. They are still valid money and can be found in circulation. This makes it one of the oldest original currencies still used in the world!

Swiss coins do not use any of Switzerland's four national languages. Instead, they use numbers, the abbreviation "Fr." for franc, and Latin words like Helvetia or Confœderatio Helvetica. This makes them neutral for all language speakers.

Swiss Banknotes

Fine print of a CHF 20 banknote, with distances between earth and various celestial bodies in light-seconds

The Swiss National Bank started printing banknotes in 1907. They made notes for 50, 100, 500, and 1000 francs. Later, 20-franc and 5-franc notes were added. In 1952, the 5-franc notes were stopped, and 10-franc notes were introduced in 1955. In 1996, a new 200-franc note was introduced, and the 500-franc note was stopped.

The Swiss National Bank has printed nine different series of banknotes. Seven of these have been used by the public. The fourth and seventh series were kept as "reserve series" in case of widespread fake money.

The sixth series of banknotes, from 1976, showed famous scientists. These notes are no longer valid money since 2000. However, you can still exchange them for new notes at the Swiss National Bank. This rule used to have a time limit, but now you can exchange them at any time.

The eighth series of banknotes came out starting in 1995. These notes had a new vertical design and featured different artists. The 500-franc note was replaced by a 200-franc note, which became more popular. The colors of the notes were similar to the old ones, but the 20-franc note changed from blue to red to avoid confusion with the 100-franc note. The notes also had many new security features to prevent faking.

Eighth series of Swiss banknotes

Image		Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Obverse	Date of issue	Date of withdrawal	Remarks
Obverse	Reverse
		10 francs	126 × 74 mm	Yellow	Le Corbusier	8 April 1995	30 April 2021
		20 francs	137 × 74 mm	Red	Arthur Honegger	1 October 1994	30 April 2021
		50 francs	148 × 74 mm	Green	Sophie Taeuber-Arp	3 October 1995	30 April 2021
		100 francs	159 × 74 mm	Blue	Alberto Giacometti	1 October 1998	30 April 2021
		200 francs	170 × 74 mm	Brown	Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz	1 October 1997	30 April 2021	Replaced the 500-franc banknote in the previous series
		1000 francs	181 × 74 mm	Purple	Jacob Burckhardt	1 April 1998	30 April 2021
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

All Swiss banknotes use all four national languages. The side with a German-speaking person has German and Romansh. The side with a French or Italian-speaking person has French and Italian. The other two languages are on the back.

The ninth series of banknotes started being released in 2016. The first was the 50-franc note. These new notes have themes like "Switzerland's organizational talent" (10 francs), "creativity" (20 francs), "wealth of experiences" (50 francs), "humanitarian tradition" (100 francs), "scientific expertise" (200 francs), and "communicative flair" (1000 francs).

All banknotes from the eighth series were removed from circulation on April 30, 2021. However, like the sixth series, they can still be exchanged for new notes at the Swiss National Bank at any time.

9th (current) series of Swiss banknotes
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Theme (a typically Swiss characteristic)	Obverse (an action)	Reverse (a Swiss location and an object)	Date of issue
Obverse	Reverse
		10 francs	70 × 123 mm	Yellow	Switzerland's organisational talent Key motif: Time	A pair of female hands conducting the time with a baton. Globe: around the International Date Line, "End of Day" (Bering Strait, Pacific Ocean), with the time zone borders drawn on top of it. Clock faces form the background on the front of the note. Security strip: The Swiss rail network and its longest tunnels are depicted on the security strip.	Two rail tracks connecting in the world's longest railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, part of the world's most dense railway network reducing the Time for traversing the Alps in Central Switzerland Watch's movement : the watch's movement symbolises the country's strong organisational talent. Rail network: The lines on the back of the note depict a section of Switzerland's rail network.	18 October 2017
		20 francs	70 × 130 mm	Red	Switzerland's creativity Key motif: Light	A boyish right hand holding a prism into a light beam so that the light is dispersed into various colours. Globe: 4 hours earlier (Pacific Ocean, North-America) and the motif of light is echoed in star constellations over the globe. The background of the note is reminiscent of a kaleidoscope in which colourful patterns are produced through reflected light. Security strip: Night-time light emissions are overlaid on a map of Switzerland and the surrounding regions, and the distances between various celestial bodies and the earth are listed in light seconds.	Light beaming a movie to a large outdoor screen on the Piazza Grande in Locarno during the Locarno Film Festival. Butterfly: Light reveals the colour of the butterfly's wings and allows us to behold the rich diversity of nature. Iris: The lines on the back portray an iris, which regulates the amount of light entering the human eye.	17 May 2017
		50 francs	70 × 137 mm	Green	Wealth of experiences Switzerland offers Key motif: Wind	Left hand holding a dandelion with flowing, silky pappi carried forth by the wind. Globe: another 4 hours earlier (Africa, Atlantic Ocean, South America, North America) and the arrows on the globe show the direction of the winds that connect Switzerland with other regions and continents. Background pattern: Wind flow arrows Security strip: Mountains evoke Switzerland's varied landscapes. The security strip shows the Alps and lists the names of the main four-thousand-metre peaks in the Swiss Alps, from A for Aletschhorn to Z for Zumsteinspitze.	Wind streaming around the glaciated mountain peaks of the Swiss Alps. Paraglider: The wind, the note's key motif, holds the paraglider aloft in the mountains. Contour lines: The contour lines evoke Switzerland's varied landscapes.	12 April 2016
		100 francs	70 × 144 mm	Blue	Switzerland's humanitarian tradition Key motif: Water	A pair of hands holding and providing water Globe: another 4 hours earlier (Europe, Africa) and the isobars and contour lines drawn on a globe joining places of equal average high and low atmospheric pressure reduced to sea level for a specified period of time. Security strip: The rivers flowing through Switzerland are shown and listed in the security strip.	Water flowing alongside a vertical mountain side in the dry Valais wooden German: Suonen/French: des bisses	12 September 2019
		200 francs	70 × 151 mm	Brown	Switzerland's scientific expertise Key motif: Matter	Right hand pointing to the three dimensions (right-hand rule) Globe: another 4 hours earlier (Africa, Europe, Middle East, Indian Ocean, Asia) with the Earth's land masses during the Late Cretaceous period superimposed Security strip: An abstract map of the geological ages of Switzerland and a timeline showing some of the stages in the formation of the universe are shown on the security strip.	Signals from a particle collision in a detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva Particle collision map	22 August 2018
		1000 francs	70 × 158 mm	Purple	Switzerland's communicative flair Key motif: Language	Two right hands of different persons shaking hands Globe: another 4 hours earlier, "Start of Day" (Eastern Asia, Australia) with IPA letters Security strip: The map on the security strip shows the language regions of Switzerland and its neighbouring countries; in addition, the names of all Swiss cantons are listed.	Holding speeches in different languages in the Swiss parliament during the Federal Assembly at Bern Relation graph	13 March 2019
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Where the Swiss Franc is Used

Most traded currencies by value
Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover

Rank	Currency	ISO 4217 code (symbol)	% daily share (April 2016)
1	United States dollar	USD ($)	87.6%
2	Euro	EUR (€)	31.4%
3	Japanese yen	JPY (¥)	21.6%
4	Pound sterling	GBP (£)	12.8%
5	Australian dollar	AUD ($)	6.9%
6	Canadian dollar	CAD ($)	5.1%
7	Swiss franc	CHF (Fr)	4.8%
8	Chinese yuan	CNY (¥)	4.0%
9	Swedish krona	SEK (kr)	2.2%
10	New Zealand dollar	NZD ($)	2.1%
11	Mexican peso	MXN ($)	1.9%
12	Singapore dollar	SGD ($)	1.8%
13	Hong Kong dollar	HKD ($)	1.7%
14	Norwegian krone	NOK (kr)	1.7%
15	South Korean won	KRW (₩)	1.7%
16	Turkish lira	TRY (₺)	1.4%
17	Russian ruble	RUB (₽)	1.1%
18	Indian rupee	INR (₹)	1.1%
19	Brazilian real	BRL (R$)	1.0%
20	South African rand	ZAR (R)	1.0%
Other			7.1%
Total Most traded currencies by value Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover Rank Currency ISO 4217 code Symbol or abbreviation Proportion of daily volume, April 2019 Proportion of daily volume, April 2022 1 U.S. dollar USD US$ 88.3% 88.5% 2 Euro EUR € 32.3% 30.5% 3 Japanese yen JPY ¥ / 円 16.8% 16.7% 4 Sterling GBP £ 12.8% 12.9% 5 Renminbi CNY ¥ / 元 4.3% 7.0% 6 Australian dollar AUD A$ 6.8% 6.4% 7 Canadian dollar CAD C$ 5.0% 6.2% 8 Swiss franc CHF CHF 5.0% 5.2% 9 Hong Kong dollar HKD HK$ 3.5% 2.6% 10 Singapore dollar SGD S$ 1.8% 2.4% 11 Swedish krona SEK kr 2.0% 2.2% 12 South Korean won KRW ₩ / 원 2.0% 1.9% 13 Norwegian krone NOK kr 1.8% 1.7% 14 New Zealand dollar NZD NZ$ 2.1% 1.7% 15 Indian rupee INR ₹ 1.7% 1.6% 16 Mexican peso MXN $ 1.7% 1.5% 17 New Taiwan dollar TWD NT$ 0.9% 1.1% 18 South African rand ZAR R 1.1% 1.0% 19 Brazilian real BRL R$ 1.1% 0.9% 20 Danish krone DKK kr 0.6% 0.7% 21 Polish złoty PLN zł 0.6% 0.7% 22 Thai baht THB ฿ 0.5% 0.4% 23 Israeli new shekel ILS ₪ 0.3% 0.4% 24 Indonesian rupiah IDR Rp 0.4% 0.4% 25 Czech koruna CZK Kč 0.4% 0.4% 26 UAE dirham AED د.إ 0.2% 0.4% 27 Turkish lira TRY ₺ 1.1% 0.4% 28 Hungarian forint HUF Ft 0.4% 0.3% 29 Chilean peso CLP CLP$ 0.3% 0.3% 30 Saudi riyal SAR ﷼ 0.2% 0.2% 31 Philippine peso PHP ₱ 0.3% 0.2% 32 Malaysian ringgit MYR RM 0.1% 0.2% 33 Colombian peso COP COL$ 0.2% 0.2% 34 Russian ruble RUB ₽ 1.1% 0.2% 35 Romanian leu RON L 0.1% 0.1% … Other 2.2% 2.5% Total 200.0% 200.0% || style="text-align:right;" | 200.0%

The Swiss franc is the official money in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also accepted in Campione d'Italia, a small Italian town surrounded by Switzerland. Even though the euro is the official money in Büsingen am Hochrhein, a German town surrounded by Switzerland, the Swiss franc is widely used there too. The Swiss franc is the only type of franc still used in Europe.

As of March 2010, the total value of all Swiss coins and banknotes in circulation was about 49.664 billion Swiss francs.

You can use up to 100 circulating Swiss coins for payment. Banknotes are valid for any amount.

See also

In Spanish: Franco suizo para niños

• Banking in Switzerland
• Economy of Switzerland
• Gold standard
• Hard currency
• Iraqi Swiss dinar, a common name for the old Iraqi currency but not related to Swiss currency.
• Liechtenstein franc
• List of currencies in Europe