Swiss National Bank (SNB) Development

Development

Denomination, format and colours

Development of the current banknote series began in the eighties when several basic decisions were taken. The first choice was to issue a 200 franc note instead of the 500 franc note. In doing so, the SNB reacted to the sharply declining proportion of the 500 franc note of banknotes in circulation. This note was not popular with the public, being too large for daily payments and too small as a store of value. The 200 franc note was well received by users and resulted in a reduction in the circulation of the 100 franc note - in terms of number the most important denomination - and an increase in the demand for 1000 franc notes. This led to a decline in the total number of notes in circulation.

In addition, several changes were made to the format of the banknotes. First of all, uniform breadth of 74mm was defined for all banknotes, thus making machine handling considerably easier. In addition, the difference in length between two denominations was set at 11mm. With a length of 126 mm, the 10-franc note is the smallest of the series, whereas the 1000 franc note, measuring 181 mm, is the largest. This should also enable visually impaired users to distinguish the banknotes easily. In addition, to make the 20 franc and the 100 franc note clearly distinguishable from one another, the SNB decided in favour of a red colour for the former (both notes were blue before).

Selection of security features

The selection of security features was given particular attention. The key consideration was that only an optimum combination of features meeting availability, effectiveness and cost criteria would provide adequate protection against counterfeiting. New features were added to those used previously, with the intention being that the magic number, the coloured number, the moving number, the perforated number, the chameleon number and the glittering number would help users verfy the authenticity of the banknotes.

Selection of the artist

Fourteen artists were invited to participate in a competition for the artistic design of the banknotes and were given the established parameters. A ten-member jury selected three of the designs submitted. The winners were subsequently asked to work out a design concept for one denomination (the 50 franc note) all the way to the printing stage. The ideas behind the artistic design had to be reconciled with the technicalities of the security features. In this task the designers were advised by specialists. In 1991 the SNB Bank Committee, which is responsible for this area of SNB activities, appointed Jörg Zintzmeyer to design the new banknotes, based on the results of the selection process.