Swiss 200 franc banknote

200 francs
Obverse Reverse H V H V
1996 note
General information
Country	Switzerland
Value	200.00 francs
Years	1997–present
Specifications
Material	paper
Orientation	vertical
Width	74 mm
Height	170 mm
Security features
Kinegram, microprinting, security thread, serial number, special ink, watermarks
Appearance
Color	brown
Obverse	Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz
Reverse	Diablerets, Lake Geneva, manuscript
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The 200 franc banknote is one of the six notes currently issued by Switzerland. It was first printed in 1996 and has been in circulation since October 1, 1997. It was initially created as a replacement for the 500 franc note, whose last series was recalled in 2000 and will be made obsolete in 2020. A second series of 200 franc note was initially planned to be released in 2012, but now the Swiss National Bank, the official currency-issuing authority of Switzerland, projects it to be issued as early as 2015.

History

Eighth series note (1997–present)

See also: Swiss eighth series banknotes

Obverse of a specimen note

Issuance of the eighth series of Swiss franc notes began in 1995 with the introduction of the newly revised 50 franc note. The first 200 franc note was printed in 1996, but not issued until October 1, 1997. It has since proven more successful than the higher-denominated 500 franc note, which it was made to replace. Like all of the other notes of the eighth series, it was designed by Swiss artist Jörg Zintzmeyer (1947–2009). The 200 franc banknote has vertical orientation, and measures 170 millimeters in width by 74 in height. Its main color is described as brown, but there are elements that are yellow, blue, and white as well. Featured at the bottom left portion of the obverse is a facing image of Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947), a French-speaking Swiss writer who was active during the early to mid 20th century. Superimposed over the bottom of the likeness is a touch perceptible square pattern, which allows the blind and visually impaired to recognize the value. The denomination "200" is written over the image at the left side of the note four times, each with special ink. These values correspond in location with "E", "F", "G", and "H" tabs running down the left portion of the note. Printed vertically in black ink to the right of the image is the French text "BANQUE NATIONALE SUISSE" (English: "Swiss National Bank") which is in turn flanked to the right by the Italian "BANCA NAZIONALE SVIZZERA" (meaning the same as the French text) written in blue ink in the same direction. Directly above the image of Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz are four Kinegram elements. The leftmost of these shows the Swiss cross from the national flag of Switzerland, one has the "BNS" abbreviation for the Swiss National Bank used by French, Italian, and Romansh speakers, while another bears the "SNB" abbreviation used by English and German speakers. When the latter two Kinegram are seen tilted, the denomination is made visible. Near the "A" tab at the side of the note the value is printed in a transparent color, at tab "B" it is a watermark, at tab "C" it is written using intaglio printing, and at tab "D" with perforated ink. An image of Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz at work is shown at the upper left corner of the note. Next to it in a white-colored area is the Swiss cross and the vertically-printed caption "Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1878-1947". The French value "Deux Cents Francs" (English: "Two hundred francs") is written vertically in black ink at the right edge of the note, with the Italian text of the same meaning, "Duecento Franchi", written to its right in the same direction in blue ink. Printed next to the French value is the text "Les billets de banque sont protégés par le droit penal.", and written next to the Italian value are the words "Le banconote sono protette dal diritto penale."; both translate to English as "Banknotes are protected by criminal law". The note's value is printed once again in the upper right corner as "200".

Reverse of a specimen note

An image of the Diablerets, a mountain in the Bernese Alps, is printed in blue ink at the top of the note's reverse. It symbolizes the importance of mountains in many of Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz's works, including his 1926 work La grande peur dans la montagne ("Terror on the Mountain") and his 1934 novel Derborence ("When the Mountain Fell"). Below it is a yellow and green view of the Lavaux area around Lake Geneva, the area of Switzerland from which Ramuz hailed. At the very bottom of the note is an autotype of a mountain from Ramuz's 1927 La beauté sur la terre in the background, with text from Ramuz's 1928 Souvenirs sur Igor Stravinsky in the foreground. Printed below the text in white lettering is the French caption "Extrait du manuscrit Souvenirs sur Igor Strawinsky 1928" (English: "Excerpt from the manuscript Souvenirs sur Igor Stravinsky, 1928"), which is separated from what it describes by a solid white line. The serial number, which begins with the last two digits of the year of production, is inscribed vertically in brown ink in a rectangular border superimposed above the mountain from La beauté sur la terre. It is printed vertically again in dark-colored letters at the top left corner of the reverse. Written horizontally near it, at the left side of the note, is the value "200". A Swiss cross identical to that on the obverse is shown near the top center of the reverse. The German name of the Swiss National Bank, "SCHWEIZERISCHE NATIONALBANK", is printed vertically in blue ink at the right side of the note, and the Romansh name, "BANCA NAZIUNALA SVIZRA", is written next to it with black lettering. A bit to the right of both names are the German and Romansh readings of the value, respectively "Zweihundert Franken" and "Duatschient Francs", printed in the same direction and in the same respective colors. To the direct right of the German value is the counterfeiting notice "Banknoten sind strafrechtlich geschützt.", and next to the Romansh denomination is the text "Las bancnotas èn protegidas dal dretg penal.". The signature of the President of the Bank Council is shown underneath the caption "Der Präsident des Bankrates" at the top of the note, while that of a member of the bank's Executive Board is shown underneath the German caption "Ein Mitglied des Direktoriums" below the signature of the president. Like on the obverse, the numerical value is written at the upper right corner of the reverse. Printed at the very bottom of the note in yellow ink is the text "Jörg Zintzmeyer Z&L", which attributes Zintzmeyer as the designer of the notes. It is followed by "Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA Zurich", the name of the printer of Swiss banknotes, and then the French bank title "Banque nationale suisse".

Reverse microprinting

A number of features were added to the banknote to combat counterfeiting. There is microprinting on the yellow portion on Ramuz's likeness on the obverse, and also in a yellow square next to the bottom-most serial number on the reverse. The printing on the obverse consists of paragraphs in French and Italian briefly describing Ramuz, while that on the reverse comprises of paragraphs in German and Romansh. A watermark similar to the image at the bottom of the obverse is present at the top right, and becomes visible when viewed against the light. The value is written along the left side of the obverse eight times. The first uses transparent ink that becomes visible when seen at the proper angle, the second is a watermark that can be seen when the note is held up to a light source, the third is printed with intaglio ink that leaves traces of ink when rubbed, the fourth uses perforated lettering that can clearly be seen as such when held up to light, the fifth is written using ink that changes color depending on the angle it is viewed from, the sixth becomes visible under ultraviolet light, the seventh is metal-coated, and under a microscope the lettering "BNS" and "SNB" can be seen; and the eighth can only be viewed when tilted at an unusual angle. In addition, the cross on the obverse and reverse is printed in the same location, three Kinegram elements and some color-changing ink are present on the obverse, and a metallic thread and two different-colored serial numbers are shown on the reverse.

Ninth series note

This article or section contains information on an expected future introduction. When the subject has been officially introduced, remove this message.

See also: Swiss 200 franc banknote (2005 drafts)

In 2005 the Swiss National Bank invited twelve artists to submit designs for the ninth series of Swiss banknotes, whose initial issuance date was scheduled for 2010, but after being postponed twice the earliest projected date is 2015. Manuel Krebs' designs were initially selected, but after public disapproval those of runner-up Manuela Pfrunder were chosen instead. Like the note first issued in 1997, it will be brown in color. The new note is expected to be made of a blend of polymer and paper, and to measure 151 millimeters in height by 70 in width.

Notes

Text of microprinting

References

• Banknotes of the Swiss franc on the English Wikipedia
• Eighth banknote series, 1995 – National Bank of Switzerland
• Manuel Krebs designs – National Bank of Switzerland
• Manuela Pfrunder designs