Twenty Francs 2019 Furka Pass, 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.

In regular circulation, the denomination is served by a banknote. These coins are non-circulating legal tender made for collectors. They are issued in topical series, celebrating various aspects of Swiss heritage or nature.

The edge is usually inscribed with the motto DOMINUS PROVIDEBIT (The Lord will provide - a quote from the Bible, Genesis 22, 8), and thirteen stars representing the original thirteen cantons of the Swiss Federation.

This coin features the Furka Pass in Switzerland and is one of a series of coins dedicated to the mountain passes of the country.

At an altitude of 2429 metres above sea level, the Furka Pass is one of the highest and most impressive Alpine passes in Switzerland. It connects the hamlet of Gletsch in the canton of Valais with Andermatt in the canton of Uri and, together with the Oberalp Pass, forms an east-west link within the Alps. The area is one of the snowiest in Switzerland. The European watershed runs along the pass: the Rhone flows southwest towards the Mediterranean, while the (Furka-)Reuss sweeps northeast into the Rhine and the North Sea.

The first landmark event in Furka Pass traffic to be documented was around the 12th century, when hundreds of German-speaking Walser people settled with their families in the Urseren Valley or even further east in Raetia. In the 14th century, the route over the pass summit at 2429 metres a.s.l. gained in importance for the Walser people because it granted them direct access to the transalpine axis via the Gotthard. Between 1864 and 1866, the almost 40-kilometre-long and at least 4.20 metres wide road from Hospental to Oberwald was built by the cantons of Uri and Valais.

Whether by bicycle, motorbike, car, postal bus or historic steam train on the cogwheel mountain route - every year more than 250,000 people cross the Furka Pass and enjoy the spectacular view. For example from the famous Hotel Belvédère on the Rhone glacier or the surrounding alpine granite world.