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20 Francs
| Issuer | Kantonal-Bank von Bern |
|---|---|
| Year | 1866 |
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| Currency | Franc (1864-1906) |
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| Obverse description | Typeset note printed on orange-brown paper with an elaborate letterpress border of interlaced scrollwork and foliate ornaments. At the upper centre, a vignette of two allegorical putti or cherub figures flanking a central cartouche, each seated on scrolled acanthus foliage and holding ribbon banners. The denomination "Zwanzig Franken" is set in large Gothic blackletter type at centre, above the italic script promise to pay in gold or silver, with the issuer's name "Die Kantonal-Bank von Bern" in bold Roman type above. Two manuscript signatures appear in the lower half beneath the titles of the President of the Administrative Council and the Bank Director, with the emission date and serial number repeated at lower left and lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | B. P. Vingt Francs. Die Kantonal - Bank von Bern zahlt dem Uberbringer zwanzig franken in Gold oder Silber Der Präsident des Verwaltungsrathes: Der Bankdirector: Emission von 20. April 1866. B.P.Fs 20. |
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| Comments |
The Kantonal-Bank von Bern was established in 1834 as one of Switzerland's earliest cantonal banks, operating during the fragmented era when individual Swiss cantons still maintained their own note-issuing privileges. That system was abolished when the Swiss National Bank was founded in 1907, which means any surviving Bernese cantonal note predates a fundamental restructuring of Swiss monetary authority by several decades.
The 1866 date places this note squarely within a period of intense political pressure on cantonal issuers — federal legislation through the 1860s was steadily tightening reserve and redemption requirements, and several smaller cantonal banks were already failing under the strain.