Swiss franc | |||||
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Schweizer Franken (German) franc suisse (French) franco svizzero (Italian) franc svizzer (Romansh) |
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ISO 4217 | |||||
Code | CHF | ||||
Number | 756 | ||||
Exponent | 2 | ||||
Denominations | |||||
Subunit | |||||
1⁄100 | Rappen | ||||
Plural |
Franken (German) francs (French) franchi (Italian) francs (Romansh) |
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Rappen | Rappen (German) | ||||
centime | Centimes (French) | ||||
centesimo | centesimi (Italian) | ||||
rap | raps (Romansh) | ||||
Symbol | CHF, Fr., SFr. (old) | ||||
Nickname | Stutz (1 CHF coin), 2-Fränkler (2 CHF coin), 5-Liiber (5 CHF coin) (Swiss German), Ameise (1000 CHF), balle(s) (≥1 CHF) thune (=5 CHF) (French) | ||||
Banknotes | 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 & 1,000 francs | ||||
Coins | 5, 10 & 20 centimes, 1⁄2, 1, 2 & 5 francs | ||||
Demographics | |||||
Official user(s) |
Switzerland Liechtenstein Campione d'Italia, Italy |
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Unofficial user(s) | Büsingen am Hochrhein, Germany | ||||
Issuance | |||||
Central bank | Swiss National Bank | ||||
Website | www.snb.ch | ||||
Printer | Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA (Zürich) | ||||
Mint | Swissmint | ||||
Website | www |
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Valuation | |||||
Inflation | -0.2% (2013) | ||||
Source | Statistik Schweiz (German) |
The franc (sign: Fr. or SFr. or FS; German: Franken, French and Romansh: franc, Italian: franco; code: CHF) is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins.
The smaller denomination, a hundredth of a franc, is a Rappen (Rp.) in German, centime (c.) in French, centesimo (ct.) in Italian, and rap (rp.) in Romansh. The ISO code of the currency used by banks and financial institutions is CHF, although "Fr." is used by most businesses and advertisers; some use SFr.; the Latinate "CH" stands for Confoederatio Helvetica.
Given the different languages used in Switzerland, Latin is used for language-neutral inscriptions on the coins.
Before 1798, about 75 entities were making coins in Switzerland, including the 25 cantons and half-cantons, 16 cities, and abbeys, resulting in about 860 different coins in circulation, with different values, denominations and monetary systems.
The local Swiss currencies included the Basel thaler, Berne thaler, Fribourg gulden, Geneva thaler, Geneva genevoise, Luzern gulden, Neuchâtel gulden, St. Gallen thaler, Schwyz gulden, Solothurn thaler, Valais thaler and the Zürich thaler.