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20 Franken
| Issuer | Bank in St. Gallen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | FRANKEN 20 Die Bank in St. Gallen zahlt dem Ueberbringer gegen diese Anweisung ZWANZIG FRANKEN neue Schweizer Währung St. Gallen, den II. Serie Cass. Res. |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a mirror-image impression of the obverse design, consistent with the show-through characteristic of the thin cotton paper stock used in this issue, with no independently printed reverse design elements; the vignettes, inscriptions, and numeral panels are visible in reverse as a direct consequence of the intaglio printing technique applied to the obverse. |
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| Comments |
The Bank in St. Gallen was one of several cantonal and private Swiss banks that turned to American security printers in the early 1850s — a practical choice, since Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. had established a strong reputation for anti-counterfeiting techniques, particularly their intricate lathe-work guilloche patterns, which Swiss domestic printers couldn't easily replicate at the time.
Sheets crossed the Atlantic before the notes ever entered Swiss hands. That transatlantic supply chain was unremarkable for the period but feels incongruous given how fiercely local Swiss banking identity would become in later decades.