Five Francs 1886, Coin from Switzerland - detailed information

The Five Francs coin is a circulating denomination of the Swiss Franc. Given that Switzerland has four official languages, the Franc has three different names: Franken in German, franc in French and Romansh, and franco in Italian. Initially when federal Swiss coinage was introduced in 1850, all "francs" (including the half franc) were full-bodied silver, while the centimes were either billon (low-grade silver) or base metal.

This first version of the five francs coin featuring a seated figure of Helvetia was designed by Friedrich Fisch and engraved by Antoine Bovy. The reverse shows the value - a numeral 5, and a language-neutral abbreviation of the denomination, Fr. within a wreath whose left part consists of oak branches and the right part of various Alpine flowers while the reverse shows the Seated Helvetia figure, consistent with the other Franc coins of the time - the half franc, one franc and two francs. This version was larger and heavier than current coins (25 grams) and made of 0.900 silver and 0.100 copper, as per the specifications of the Latin Monetary Union. It was issued between 1850 and 1874 and was initially struck by the Paris Mint and the Brussels Mint, then by the Bern Mint (now Swissmint).

In 1888, the denomination was changed to a new design by Karl Schwenzer, with the reverse showing a shield within a wreath, and the obverse featuring a portrait of the symbolic figure Helvetia. Unlike the smaller denominations, its metal was not debased.

In 1886, due to the globally falling prices of silver, it was not considered practical to issue a large quantity of coinage until the gold/silver price ratio stabilised. The Latin Monetary Union decided to temporarily suspend production. Switzerland negotiated an exception and minted a quantity of gold coins. However, the master die for the 5 Francs piece broke when only a few trial pieces had been made. Although a competition was held in 1886 to select the new coin design, it wasn’t until 1888 that the design could be used to mint an extensive issue of 5-franc coins.

Only five examples of this coin exist - three in museums and two in private collections.