Next Tuesday a new Swiss note will go into circulation. Fortunately, the new 50 franc note will be the same colour as the current one to avoid confusion at the check-out. Measuring 70 x 137 mm, the new bill is smaller in size than the current 50 franc note of 73 x 149 mm.
The new 50 Swiss franc note
The current 50 Swiss franc note
According to Tribune de Genève, the new note’s launch is six years behind the original planned date.
Greuzi, Bonjour, Ciao to Switzerland’s many facets
This ninth banknote series moves away from the depiction of well-known personalities. Instead each note in the new series depicts a typically Swiss characteristic, which is illustrated graphically using a motif. Each characteristic is communicated via an action, a location and various graphic elements. The theme of this series is ‘The many facets of Switzerland’.
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On this note the wind carries away the seeds of a dandelion, the arrows on the globe show the direction of the winds that connect Switzerland with other regions and continents, and mountains and a parapenter evoke Switzerland’s landscape. The security strip shows the Alps and lists the names of the main four-thousand-metre peaks in the Swiss Alps.
Adieu Sophie Taeuber-Arp
The current face of the Swiss 50, is the Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Born in Davos on 19 January 1889, she was one of the key figures in the Dada artistic movement. The Dada movement started in Zurich in response to the horrors of World War I. The name, which symbolically meant nothing, was the group’s antidote to the rationalism they believed had brought european civilisation to the brink of destruction. Some of Sophie’s artwork can be seen here.
Switzerland rarely celebrates personalities. Many Swiss are unable to name the current president, who has a largely ceremonial role. In Switzerland executive power is exercised collectively by the seven member federal council.
The new notes were designed by Swiss graphic designer Manuela Pfrunder and the next note in the series to go into circulation will be the CHF 20, scheduled for the second quarter of 2017. The new CHF 10, 100, 200 and 1,000 notes will be phased in at intervals between now and the end of 2019.
The current 50 remains legal tender and the SNB will advise the end date of its validity at some point in the future.
The security features of the note have been strengthened, making it harder to copy. The new note incorporates 15 features which are explained in the videos below.
In German with English subtitles:
…and in French (without subtitles):
More on this:
Swiss National Bank press release (in English)
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