One Franc, Seated Helvetia, Coin Type from Switzerland - detailed information

The obverse features a sitting figure of Helvetia, the female personification of the Confederation of Switzerland, resting on a plough whose two handles are seen to her right, and some grains; with her left hand she holds a triangular shield resting on the ground which bears the Swiss Cross inside an oval; her right arm is extended toward the left side of the obverse, pointing into the distance. The legend HELVETIA is around above her head. The engraver's name A. BOVY (for Antoine Bovy) is in large letters to her left, written counter-clockwise, i.e. the letters face the opposite way to the legend.

Coins minted in Paris (1850, 1851) have two privy marks in the exergue; to the left, a hand pointing right, the privy mark of Charles Louis Joseph Dierickx - director (mint master) of the Paris Mint; to the right, a greyhound head looking right, privy mark of Jean-Jacques Barre, the mint's chief engraver.

In 1857, the engraving was slightly changed by Ferdinand Korn, so coins dated 1857 and later have his signature in the exergue: KORN.

The reverse shows in two lines the value and denomination - a numeral 1 and a language-neutral abbreviation of the denomination, Fr. above the date: [year], all within a wreath whose left part consists of oak branches and the right part of various Alpine flowers.

Below the ribbon of the wreath is the mint mark A of the Paris Mint (1850, 1851) or B of Swissmint (previously known as the Bern Mint or the Federal Mint of Switzerland) from 1857 to 1861.