Digital museum showcasing the collection of worldwide legends over the years! 千古不朽博物館展示多年來收藏的世界傳奇故事!
Swiss Confederation
10 Francs
瑞士聯邦
10法郎
Item number: A1232
Year: AD 1913
Material: Gold
Size: 17.4 x 17.4 mm
Weight: 3.226 g
Manufactured by: Swissmint, Bern
Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2024
This is a gold coin with a face value of 10 francs, issued by the Swiss Confederation in AD 1913. The coin is encircled by a beaded border. The obverse features a left-facing portrait of a young girl from the Oberhasli region of central Switzerland. Her hair is braided, and she wears an edelweiss wreath around her chest, with the distant Alpine Mountain range serving as the background.
In the lower left corner of the coin, the inscription “F. LANDRY” represents the initials of Swiss engraver Fritz Ulysse Landry. The name “HELVETIA” at the top of the coin is the formal Latin name for the Swiss Confederation, derived from the Helvetii, a Celtic tribe that inhabited the region before Roman times. When Switzerland reformed its federal system in AD 1848, the name “Helvetia” was chosen as a neutral term to avoid favouring any of the country’s four linguistic groups—German, French, Italian, and Romansh—preserving it as the official name to this day.
The reverse of the coin features the Swiss national emblem at the top—a white cross on a shield—adorned with radiant rays in the background. Along the lower edge is a depiction of an Alpine rhododendron branch, commonly found in the Swiss mountain regions. Below the branch is a capital letter “B,” signifying that the coin was minted in Bern, the de facto capital of Switzerland. The coin’s denomination, “10 FR” (10 francs), and the year of issue, “1913,” are inscribed in the centre.
The year following the issuance of this gold coin, Europe was engulfed in the flames of World War I. Switzerland, benefiting from its status of permanent neutrality guaranteed by the major European powers under the Congress of Vienna in AD 1848, was spared from direct involvement in the conflict. As a result, Switzerland became a refuge for exiles from various nations. Among the most notable figures who sought asylum in Switzerland was Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, who later returned to Russia with secret assistance from Germany to establish the Soviet Union.