Twenty Francs 2019 Moon Landing, 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 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon.

Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first humans to step onto the moon's surface with the Apollo 11 mission on 21 July 1969. Before the astronaut "Buzz" Aldrin hoisted the American flag on the moon almost 50 years ago, he first hung up a Swiss solar sail. This so-called solar wind sail of the University of Bern was the only non-American experiment on board the Apollo 11. The "Solar Wind Composition Experiment" was developed by the Bernese physicists under the leadership of Professor Johannes Geiss of the Institute of Physics to verify the existence of the solar wind that was suspected at the time but could not be measured from earth. The simplicity and low weight of the solar sail had convinced NASA: it was made of a differently coated aluminium foil measuring 140 x 30 cm, which was oriented as directly as possible into the sun to capture any solar wind particles. The foil was then analysed in the laboratory after returning from the moon. The simple, lightweight and successful experiment was repeated on all lunar missions except the last Apollo 17 mission and the failed Apollo 13 mission.

The Apollo solar sail was a success story for the University of Bern and Switzerland. Switzerland's membership of the European Space Agency (ESA) also enables Swiss research institutes and companies to acquire outstanding expertise in scientifically and technologically challenging areas and to celebrate further successes in space travel.