Ten Francs 2012 Cow Fighting, Coin from Switzerland - detailed information

The Ten 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. 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.

The normal circulating 5 FR denomination was supplemented by circulating commemorative one-year type 5 Franc coins in silver and copper-nickel.

In 1999, Swissimint changed the concept and started striking non-circulating commemoratives for collectors only, which were bimetallic 5 Francs at first. 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, such as those listed below.

The 10 Francs are bimetallic and have the same dimensions as the bimetallic 5 Francs, but their colours are reversed: with an Aluminium Bronze outer ring (92% copper, 6% Aluminium, 2% Nickel) and a copper-nickel inner circle (75% copper, 25% nickel). They are issued in topical series, celebrating various aspects of Swiss heritage or nature.

The 2012 Ten Francs collector coin highlights the Cow Fighting (German: Ringkuhkämpfe) tradition. It is part of the second series about Swiss customs (German: Schweizer Bräuche; French: Coutumes suisses); the first series was in the 5 Francs denomination.

The obverse of the coin is common with the other commemorative 10 Francs and is designed by Roland Hirter; the reverse is designed by Dominique Studer.

Combat de Reines or Swiss Cow fighting, is a traditional event held mostly in the Swiss canton of Valais, in which a cow fights another cow. Each year, the Swiss canton of Valais hosts a series of cow fights known as combats de reines, which began in the 1920s and has drawn as many as 50,000 spectators in a year.

Bimetallic 10 Franc coins are legal tender but are issued in small quantities for collectors only and do not circulate.