Switzerland, 5 Francs, William Tell

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by Onofrio Bacigalupo, May 11, 2017.

  1. Onofrio Bacigalupo

    Onofrio Bacigalupo Well-Known Member

    Silver[​IMG][​IMG]

    Copper Nickel

    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
    chrisild and Stork like this.
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. chrisild

    chrisild Coin Collector

    Nice coin except that is not Wilhelm Tell. :) The piece depicts an Alphirt (alpine shepherd), but quite a few in Switzerland like the idea that the - probably fictitious - hero might have looked like this guy. (Some background info in German is here (PDF).)

    As you wrote, there are several different versions of that 5 Fr coin. The earlier ones (1922-1928) were 900 silver, and demonetized in 1934. The later ones (1931-1969) were Ag835 and demonetized in 1971.

    But even the copper-nickel issues are tricky. ;) The coins made between 1968 and 1981 use the inverse ↑↓ alignment and are legal tender. 1982-1984: parallel ↑↑ alignment, legal tender. 1985-1993: ↑↑ and demonetized in 2004. And finally 1994-today: ↑↑ and legal tender.

    The demonetized Cu-Ni coins have an incused edge inscription; those were apparently counterfeited to some extent. The others have a raised inscription.

    Christian
     
    spirityoda likes this.
  4. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Interesting correction by @chrisild. I did not know that, and would have accepted the "William Tell" description (I've heard it before, more than once.)

    I had one of these as a kid- even before I "officially" started collecting at age ten- and loved it. It's a neat design, and they're certainly popular.

    Just a tiny bit too "modern" for my current tastes, though I still can admire them.
     
  5. cladking

    cladking Coin Collector

    I'm impressed you have a coin that is Unc, and a tough date.
     
  6. Onofrio Bacigalupo

    Onofrio Bacigalupo Well-Known Member

    Tempus fugit = Time flies.

    Tempus fuxit = Time flew.
     
  7. Onofrio Bacigalupo

    Onofrio Bacigalupo Well-Known Member

    Is there an English translation of this somewhere? It's a lot of interesting information from what I could understand from it.
    Thank you.
     
  8. Oldhoopster

    Oldhoopster Member of the ANA since 1982

    Alphirt or Al Hirt?

    [​IMG]
     
    lordmarcovan likes this.
  9. chrisild

    chrisild Coin Collector

  10. mackat

    mackat Well-Known Member

    That's very interesting, I was not aware that the silver issues had been demonetized, nor that the 85-93 issues had been either. I wonder if this is common knowledge in Switzerland or not.
     
  11. scottishmoney

    scottishmoney Buh bye

    I'm pretty sure it is. All older Swiss banknotes get demonetized automatically after 25 years. The Swiss govt must make a killing on this because I have several older 50, 100CHF notes that were long ago demonetized. Leave a 1000CHF note lying around too long, a big loss.
     
    mackat likes this.
  12. sakata

    sakata Devil's Advocate

    For a country which prides itself (or at least to until its recent capitulation to the USA demands) on its banking industry it surprises me that any money would become obsolete. As far as I know it is still possible to spend an old US bank note, even if it cannot be converted to silver.
     
    mackat likes this.
  13. chrisild

    chrisild Coin Collector

    Many things are done differently in countries other than the one where one lives. That is pretty normal. ;) You may not be used to coins and/or notes being demonetized; people in Switzerland - and many other countries - however are. The Swiss central bank usually gives people 20 years to exchange notes that have lost their legal tender status, see here.

    Christian
     
    sakata and mackat like this.
  14. sakata

    sakata Devil's Advocate

    Seems like that would encorage people of a certain frame of mind to stash away PMs instead of bank notes.
     
  15. onecenter

    onecenter Member

    Thank you for this information.
     
  16. scottishmoney

    scottishmoney Buh bye

    Monetary obsolescence is actually pretty common. But as you noted, people in Europe, particularly France etc are fairly familiar with keeping funds in PM's.

    Quite a bit of pre-Euro cash is no longer redeemable, but Germany and Netherlands redeem most coin and paper issued after 1948 in Germany and 1945 in Netherlands. In Germany the only coin not redeemed is a early 1950s 2 mark coin that was minted and released but not authorised, and the 50 Mark bill printed in France that was released in 1948 but was quickly withdrawn because of the ease of counterfeiting.

    For example in Britain all coins minted before 1971 have been demonetised but are redeemable. Only pennies and 2p coins are good back to 1971, the 5 and 10p coins are good to 1990 or so when they were downsized. The 20p coin is good back to it's introduction in 1982. And the 50p is good back to mid 1990s when it was also downsized. The one pound coins issued before this year and the new bimetallic pounds are going to be demonetised at the end of this year.
     
    chrisild and sakata like this.
  17. chrisild

    chrisild Coin Collector

    Basically agreed, but don't try and show up in the Netherlands with a bunch of Dutch pre-euro coins expecting to get any cash for them. ;) The pre-euro coins became worthless about ten years ago (end of 2006). If you have any NLG notes left, you have some more time - until the beginning of 2032. Nothing wrong with having some gold of course. But most people here do not hoard wads of cash or gold. ;)

    Also, when I wrote "demonetized" with regard to the Swiss 5 fr coins, please note that this means they are not legal tender any more. But just like DEM cash in Germany, most of them can be redeemed at the SNB (central bank).
    1 ct/rp: is redeemable until the end of 2026.
    2 ct/rp: was redeemable until June 1979.
    5 ct/rp: this is the lowest denomination in circulation; currently aluminum-bronze. The older nickel and copper-nickel coins can be redeemed (no deadline).
    10 and 20 ct/rp: currently copper-nickel; the older nickel coins can be redeemed (no deadline).

    Christian
     
    mackat likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page