20 Swiss Franc

The Swiss Franc is a gold coin that was produced by the Swiss Mint in Bern. The coin is 900 fineness, with copper added in during the minting process to provide extra strength and durability for the gold.

These 20 Swiss Franc gold coins are our choice of year and are in good or better condition. The 20 Franc coin weighs 6.451 grams and contains 5.806 grams of pure gold.

This is the second and most common variety of Swiss Franc, known as the Vreneli, which was made between 1897 and 1935. Approximately 58.6 million coins were made by the Mint during this period.

Restrikes: Following the Second World War, the Swiss Mint issued 20 million restruck coins in 1945, 1946, and 1947. These were all dated 1935 to show that the coins matched the official specifications. A letter L indicated the restrike, while a letter B stood for Bern.

Further restriking took place in 1947 (9.2 million) and 1949 (10 million) without the restrike markings.

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Design: Fritz Landry, Swiss medallist and sculptor, designed the Vreneli coins. His signature appears below the portrait.

On the front of the coin is Helvetia, dubbed the ‘Swiss Miss’. She was designed to appear similar to the likes of the America’s Lady Liberty. The woman has plaited hair and a garland of Edelweiss, with the Swiss Alps behind her. Any 20 Franc coins with a crowned woman are the earlier Laureate Head coins, produced between 1883 and 1896.

The coin’s reverse bears the Swiss Coat of Arms and the year of production, while the edge has latin text akin to the following: AD LEGEM ANNI MCM XXXI. This translates as Law of the Year and whichever year the coin was made.