Swiss Franc (CHF)

The Swiss franc is the only version of the franc still issued in Europe and is the currency of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also used in Campione d’Italia, an Italian exclave. Although not legal tender, it is also widely accepted in the small German exclave of Büsingen whose official legal tender is the euro.

The Swiss franc, designated in written form as Fr. or SFr., is a decimal-based currency whose smallest unit is the Rappen which has the value of one-hundredth of a franc. Financial institutions and markets generally use the ISO 4217 code of CHF, though most businesses and advertisers use the Fr. or SFr. most often.

The currency uses both coins and banknotes for its various denominations, and because four languages are commonly spoken in Switzerland—German, Italian, French and Romansh, the coins are ‘language-neutral.’ Inscriptions are in Latin, the last language common to all in the region.

The 1-rappen coin was discontinued in 2006, but current coinage includes denominations of 5, 10, 20,and 50 rappens. The whole-franc coins comprise the 1-, 2- and 5-franc pieces.

Of all the coins, only the 5-rappen coin is bronze coloured. All others are silver, though size, shape and weight varies greatly.

Banknote denominations have different colours as well, both as a security measure and for quick visual identification. As of 2011, there have been eight series of banknotes issued by Switzerland, but two were reserve issues only—those in 1938 and in roughly the 1980s—and never issued to the general public for circulated use. The second series, issued in 1918, were a war series and only partially issued. A ninth series is planned for release in 2012.

The current banknote denominations are the yellow 50 franc note, the blue 100 franc note, the green 1000 franc note and the 5000 franc note. As the denomination increases, the size of the bill follows. Unlike the coinage, banknotes are printed in all four common languages spoken in Switzerland.

As legal tender only, the franc is another fiat currency that is not backed by the value of a commodity, such as gold or silver. It has been loosely tied to the US dollar since the early 1970s and has experienced wide changes to its relative value against other foreign currencies.

The Swiss franc is the fifth or sixth largest-held reserve currency in the world and is one of the most traded currencies on the world’s foreign exchange markets.