100 Frankenthaler

The Deposito-Cassa der Stadt Bern was a municipal deposit institution, not a conventional bank of issue — its authority to circulate notes derived from the city government rather than any cantonal or federal banking framework. This matters because Switzerland had no unified currency until 1850, and the Franken itself was one of dozens of competing regional denominations in use simultaneously across the cantons during this period.

The "Frankenthaler" designation is itself a compound peculiar to Bernese usage, combining the franc-based unit with a regional monetary tradition. Engraver Brandt worked locally; the note was produced in Bern rather than sent abroad to one of the major security printers then dominating Swiss cantonal issues.

At 370 × 160 mm, this is a large-format municipal obligation — the Federal Coinage Act of 1850 effectively ended the issuing authority of institutions like this one.