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500 Francs
| Issuer | Bank in Basel (Die Bank in Basel) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1876-1879 |
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| Printer | Dondorf & Naumann, Frankfurt, Germany (1850-1932) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is arranged in a vertical tripartite layout with the central text panel dominated by the large intaglio inscription 'Fünfhundert Franken' in bold serif lettering, surmounted by the issuer legend 'DIE BANK IN BASEL' and flanked on each side by classically engraved allegorical putti figures resting on decorative cartouches incorporating guilloche rosettes. A female portrait medallion is centred at the top edge above the main inscription field, while three signature lines for Cassier, Präsident, and Director appear below the denomination text. The four corners carry the numeral '500' in large figures, and a lower panel in smaller letterpress type presents the denomination in French ('CINQ CENTS FRANCS') and Italian ('CINQUECENTO FRANCHI'), separated by a Swiss cross vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 500 FÜNFHUNDERT FRANKEN FÜNFHUNDERT FRANKEN 500 DIE BANK IN BASEL bezahlt gegen Rückgabe dieser Note Fünfhundert Franken IN SCHWEIZERWÄRHUNG Cassier: Präsident: Director: Emission vom Jahre 1879. 500 CINQ CENT FRANCS CINQUECENTO FRANCHI 500 |
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| Comments |
Die Bank in Basel was a private cantonal bank, not the Swiss National Bank — Switzerland had no central bank until 1907, and in the 1870s note issuance was still fragmented among dozens of cantonal and private institutions. This 500 Francs note was among the higher denominations circulating in that patchwork system, and its practical use would have been largely confined to commercial transactions rather than everyday trade.
Dondorf & Naumann were primarily known as playing card and chromolithography printers before expanding into security printing — an unusual background for banknote work, and one that sometimes shows in the decorative density of their output.