Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival, Coin from Switzerland - detailed information

Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival, Coin from Switzerland
CoinFive Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival

The Five Francs coin is a 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.

The normal circulating 5 FR denomination went through several transformations: with a seated figure of Helvetia on the obverse, then a portrait of Helvetia, then the current design by Paul Burkhard - all of these in silver with the specifications of the Latin Monetary Union, until in 1931 when the coins were made smaller and the content was slightly debased. Starting in 1936, the country also occasionally issued circulating commemorative one-year type 5 Franc coins in silver to mark various important occasions, then - when silver was demonetised in 1971 - the denomination became copper-nickel.

An extensive series of copper-nickel circulating commemoratives were issued between 1974 and 1990 (in parallel with the regular design). For several years after that (1991 to 1998), no commemoratives were issued in this denomination.

In 1999, Swissimint changed the concept and started striking non-circulating commemoratives for collectors only, like the coins issued below - with topics celebrating various aspects of Swiss cultural and national heritage, and not people and events as before. These were denominated as 5 Francs at first, but after only six coins were issued in the first five years, this format was discontinued. Further non-circulating bimetallic coins are now denominated as 10 Francs.

The 1999 Five Francs collector coin celebrates the Winegrower's Festival in Vevey (French: Fête des Vignerons, Vevey).

It has been organised by the Confrérie des Vignerons (Brotherhood of Winegrowers) in Vevey since 1797. The organising committee is free to choose how often the festival takes place, but the maximum number of times is five times in a century. Up to now, the interval between two festivals has varied between 14 and 28 years. The coin marks the festival edition which took place in 1999; the next one was 20 years later, in 2019.

The festival features a show celebrating the world of wine and winemaking; many performances take place in the marketplace near the shore of Lac Léman, and festivities also take place in the town itself. Since 2016, the Fête des Vignerons has been included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage.

Bimetallic 5 Franc coins are legal tender but are issued in small quantities for collectors only and do not circulate.

MintSwissmint Mint MarkLetter B Total Mintage 176,000
Obverse
Switzerland / Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival - obverse photo

The obverse shows the value and denomination 5 Fr. in the right part of the inner circle.

Around the inner circle, the date 1999 and the legend CONFOEDERATIO HELVETICA (translated from Latin: Confederation of Switzerland).

The outer ring is decorated with small images of animals: a snake, spider, lizard, bee, squirrel, mouse and a butterfly. The name of the designer GASPARD DELACHAUX is around below right, next to the figure of the bee.

The mint mark of Swissmint (ex Bern Mint) is a very small letter B to the right of the lizard.

Obverse Inscription 5 Fr. CONFOEDERATIO HELVETICA 1999
Reverse
Switzerland / Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival - reverse photo

The centre of the reverse shows symbolic grapes.

Around, the inscription FETE DES VIGNERONS VEVEY 1999.

Reverse Inscription FETE DES VIGNERONS VEVEY 1999
EdgeMilledEdge InscriptionNone
Notes

Mintage consists of 160,000 coins in uncirculated grade and 16,000 proofs. Some were issued in the year's uncirculated and proof mint sets and some were distributed individually.

Included in Set
Schweizer Münzen Stempelglanz / Monnaies suisses Fleur de coin - Swissmint 1999, mintage 16,000
9 coins: 5 Fr. Burkhard, 5 Fr. Bimetallic, 2 Fr., 1 Fr., 1/2 Fr., 20 c., 10 c., 5 c., 1 c.
See also

There is also a gold 100 Fr. coin commemorating the Winegrower's Festival.

Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival: Known varieties
Variety Proof
Mintage Issued: 16,000 (included in total)
Details

Proof coins ("PP" from "Polierte Platte" in German) distributed individually or in the year's mint sets.

In Set Schweizer Münzen Polierte Platte / Monnaies suisses Flan bruni - Swissmint 1999, mintage 5,000
9 coins: 5 Fr. Burkhard, 5 Fr. Bimetallic, 2 Fr., 1 Fr., 1/2 Fr., 20 c., 10 c., 5 c., 1 c.
Variety Trial Piece
Mintage Issued: 765
Details

Marked as a pattern / trial piece with a sign under the value: a small Swiss Cross within a circle interrupted by the letter E (for "Esasai").

Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival: References to Information Used
SourceEditionAboutLinkNotes
Swissmint 2017 Mint link
Swissmint 2017 Mintage link
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Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival: Details
CountrySwitzerland
CurrencySwiss Franc
Coin TypeFive Francs, Bimetallic
Issued1999
Face Value5 (x Franc)
Total Mintage176,000
CurrentYes
MaterialBimetallic
DesignerGaspard Delachaux
TechnologyMilled (machine-made)
ShapeRound
OrientationMedal Alignment (Axis 0)
Size33.0000 mm
Mass15.0000 g
OCC IDYRVP-OVRC-NKJM-ODQG
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Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival: Photos
ImageDetails
Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival: Photo Coin, Switzerland, 5 Francs 1999 / thumbnail Coin, Switzerland, 5 Francs 1999
Copyright: NumisCorner.com
Source
Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival: Photo Coin, Switzerland, 5 Francs 1999 / thumbnail Coin, Switzerland, 5 Francs 1999
Copyright: NumisCorner.com
Source
Five Francs 1999 Winegrower's Festival: Catalogue Reference IDs
SourceReference ID
Schön, WeltmünzkatalogSweiz Schön# 84
Krause, Standard Catalog of World CoinsSwitzerland KM# 86