Twenty Francs 1873 Pattern, Coin from Switzerland - detailed information

The Twenty 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 denomination is thus shown with a language-neutral abbreviation on the reverse: 20 FR.

Initially when federal Swiss coinage was introduced in 1850, all "francs" (from five francs down to a half franc) were full-bodied silver, while the centimes were either billon (low-grade silver) or base metal. In 1883, the first 20 francs gold coin was introduced, with a design like the 5 francs coin at the time.

Ten years earlier though, this pattern was struck - with a design like the earlier 5 Francs which had the Seated Helvetia figure on them. The design was by (?) Dorer from Baden, engraved by Leopold Wiener.

This Helvetia was not as peaceful - having a large sword in her right hand, instead of extending it in a peaceful gesture. The obverse was totally redesigned. This version was not accepted, so the coins issued later looked entirely different.