page_title: Coins of the Swiss franc
section_title: Gold coins
hierarchical_section_title: Coins of the Swiss franc / History / Gold coins
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bildseite der 20 Schweizer Franken Goldmünze "Vreneli".
context_page_description: The coins of the Swiss franc are the official coins used in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The name of the subunit is centime in French and internationally, Rappen in German, centesimo in Italian, and rap in Romansh.
  There are coins in denominations of 5 centimes, 10 centimes, 20 centimes, ½ franc, 1 franc, 2 francs and 5 francs.
  All coins have the legend of either HELVETIA or CONFŒDERATIO HELVETICA, the Latin name of the Swiss Confederation, along with the year number. The 5 francs coin in addition has the inscription DOMINUS PROVIDEBIT embossed on the edge.
  The 5, 10 and 20 centimes coins show a head of Liberty in profile, designed by Karl Schwenzer. The ½, 1 and 2 francs coins show a standing figure of the national personification Helvetia, designed by Albert Walch.
  The 5 francs coin on the obverse shows a portrait of an "alpine herdsman", designed by Paul Burkhard, and on the reverse the federal coat of arms.
  The original series of coins introduced in 1850 consisted of nine denominations.
  To this were added three denominations of gold coins, 10, 20 and 100 francs, between 1897 and 1925.
  The 1 and 2 centimes coins were retired from circulation in 2007 and 1978, respectively.
context_section_description: The 20 francs gold coin was introduced in 1883, in the same design as the 5 francs coin at the time (with the Liberty head by Albert Walch, facing left, on the obverse, and a coat of arms designed by  Albert Walch on the reverse).
  It contained 6.45g gold at 90% purity. Trial production of 20 francs coins were made in 1871 and 1873. 
  In 1895, the Federal Council decided that the coin should be made with a novel design. 
  From a total of 21 suggestions, a depiction of Helvetia by Neuchâtel artist Fritz Ulysse Landry (1842–1927) won second place.
  His Helvetia figure was criticized as too young and romantic, and the alpine panorama as too intrusive. Landry revisited his design and the revised design was chosen for the coin. 
  It shows a female head with tresses in profile, with a garland of edelweiss and an alpine panorama .
  A trial run of only 12 pieces shows the head with an additional forelock which was removed as "too frivolous".
  The final design was still criticized as still too frivolous for a national representation, but at the same time it was widely  popular and given the endearing nickname of Vreneli.
  The coin was minted between 1897 and 1949 with a total issue of 58.6 million pieces.
  A 10 francs version of the coin was produced from 1911 to 1922, with a total issue of 2.6 million.
  In 1925, 5,000 pieces of a 100 francs version were minted.
  The first series of banknotes, issued 1907, included no 10 or 20 francs denomination. The gold coins existed in circulation alongside the corresponding banknotes during 1911–1936.
  With the devaluation of 1936, the gold value of the 20 franc coin rose to 28 francs. In spite of this, production   of the 20 francs coin continued until 1949, and the coin has never been officially retired from circulation, even though its gold value  has now risen far beyond its nominal value of 20 francs.
  The pre-1897 versions of the 20 francs coin are very rare. Trial versions were produced in 1871 in two designs at 200 and 30 pieces, respectively, in 1873 in 1,000 and 80 pieces, respectively. 
  A small number of coins was made from gold mined in the Gondo mine (Zwischbergen, Valais):
  25 pieces in 1893, 19 pieces in 1895, 29 pieces in 1897.
  Two additional gold coins, with nominal values of 25 and 50 francs, were planned in the 1950s.
  The design was chosen in 1954, the 25 francs coin represented William Tell and the 50 francs coin the Rütli oath.
  A total of 15  and 6 million pieces of the 25 and 50 francs version, respectively, were minted in 1955, 1956 and 1959.
  However, in the interest of maintaining the national gold reserves, the coins were never given into circulation and remained the property of the Swiss National Bank. 
  In a press release of February 2009, it was made public that all of these coins hat been melted back into bars except for a remainder of 20,000 coins of each type and year (for a total of 120,000 surviving pieces).
caption: Vreneli head in the final design of 1897
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