A Brief Swiss History
Switzerland is a confederation of 23 cantons or states in western Europe, bordered by France, Germany, Italy and Austria. It has four official languages French, German, Italian and Romansch, a Latin dialect spoken by about 1% of its population. It includes large parts of the Alps, and for much of its history has been split into small isolated communities under local rule. Before the Romans invaded in 58 B.C., it was populated by the Helvetians, a Celtic people. After Roman influence declined it was invaded by German Teutonic tribes, and later became part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1291, the three cantons of Schwyz, Uri and Nidwalden joined forces to overcome the Austrians and formed the Swiss Confederation. New cantons joined during the fourteenth century, and in 1648 the Holy Roman Empire recognised Switzerland as independent at the Treaty of Westphalia. Napoleon invaded Switzerland to set up the Helvetian Republic which lasted from 1798 to 1803. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 further recognised Switzerland's independence and guaranteed its neutrality. Constitutions of 1848 and 1874 were modelled on that of the United States of America.

Swiss Gold Coins
Switzerland is famous for the gold stored in its banks. Its best known gold coin is the 20 franc which was issued from 1886 to 1949. Ten franc coins were also issued from 1911 to 1922, although these are not seen as frequently as the twenty francs. Gold coins of other denominations have also been issued, but mainly for presentation purposes rather than for circulation. The mintage is very low for these other issues, and they are rarely seen.

Shooting Thalers
The Swiss hold traditional shooting festivals, and issue cantonal coins which we believe are issued as prizes, while these all near a denomination, most are not of legal tender, but in any case are all rare, the mintage often being from under a hundred up to a few thousand.

Early Cantonal Coins
Before 1848, most if not all of the cantons issued their own coins, and there are a variety of different denominations, including ducats, duplone, ecus, pistolet, goldgulden, franken and multiples and fractions of these.

Specifications
Technical specifications of the most frequently encountered Swiss gold coins.

Denomination	Diameter	Weight	Alloy	AGW
20 Francs	21	6.4516	.900	0.1867
10 Francs	18.5	3.2258	.900	0.0933

Key
Denomination = face value
Diameter = Approximate diameter in millimetres.
Weight = Weight in grams.
Alloy = Fineness of gold.
AGW = Actual fine gold weight in troy ounces.

Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £9 per order
EU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail $10 per order
USA Insured Shipping $20 per order

Swiss Silver and Base Metal Coins
For silver and base metal coins of Switzerland, please look at our original Chard Coins website.