CHF · Switzerland
The ninth series of Swiss franc notes, issued between 2016 and 2019, is the current family and is among the most technically advanced currency in circulation. Its notes are built on Durasafe, a three-layer substrate of paper, polymer and paper, which allows both classic paper features and transparent windows on the same note. The eighth series stopped being legal tender on 30 April 2021 but can still be exchanged at the Swiss National Bank without any time limit.
Features published by the Swiss National Bank.
The note is built from two outer layers of cotton paper bonded to an inner polymer core. It feels like paper to the hand but carries transparent windows that ordinary paper cannot support, and it is unusually stiff and resilient for its thickness.
How to check: Feel the note; it should be firm and papery rather than plastic-smooth, yet the windows in it are genuinely transparent. That combination is the point of the substrate and is very hard to fake, because a paper counterfeit cannot have real windows and a polymer one cannot have the paper feel.
A Swiss cross appears in a transparent window formed within the note itself, clear through the substrate rather than printed.
How to check: Hold the note to the light and look through the cross. It should be a genuine window with no glue line or raised edge around it.
A globe appears in a transparent area of the note. As the note is tilted, an element within it moves, and the shining cross or numeral shifts position against the globe.
How to check: Tilt the note slowly and watch the element travel across the globe rather than merely brighten or flash.
The denomination numeral appears within a band of light that travels up and down the numeral as the note is tilted, and the colour of the effect changes with the angle.
How to check: Hold the note flat at eye level and tilt it away from you. The band of light should move smoothly across the numeral.
Very small text is printed in several places on the note, sharp enough to remain fully legible under magnification.
How to check: Use a magnifier. Genuine microtext is crisp and readable; a copy reduces it to a broken or solid line.
Under ultraviolet light selected printed elements fluoresce, while the substrate itself remains dull because it contains no optical brighteners.
How to check: A counter check under a UV lamp. A note that glows uniformly bright is on ordinary commercial paper and is not genuine.
Raised bars along one edge of the note identify the denomination by touch, with a different number of bars for each value.
How to check: Run a fingertip along the edge and confirm the bars are firmly raised and countable.
Parts of the design and the lettering are printed in raised ink that stands above the surface.
How to check: Run a fingernail across the printed design for a distinctly ridged feel.
What changes from one note to the next, once you have run the general checks above.
The 10 franc note is yellow and takes time as its theme, with a pair of hands conducting and the movement of a clock.
Check the transparent Swiss cross and globe against the light, the tilt effect on the numeral 10, and the raised bars along the edge. It is the smallest note in the series, Swiss notes grow with value.
The 20 franc note is red and takes light as its theme, with a hand holding a prism.
Run the same checks: the transparent cross and globe, the moving element in the globe when tilted, the tilt effect on the numeral 20 and the tactile bars.
The 50 franc note is green and takes wind as its theme, with a hand holding a dandelion seed head.
The 50 is the most widely circulated Swiss note and the one you will handle most, so it is the design to be familiar with. Check the transparent Swiss cross, the globe with its moving element, the tilt effect on the numeral 50 and the raised bars at the edge.
The 100 franc note is blue and takes water as its theme, with hands holding water and an image of a glacier.
Run every check: the transparent cross and globe held to the light, the moving element in the globe, the tilt effect on the numeral 100, the microtext under a magnifier and the tactile bars.
The 200 franc note is brown and takes matter as its theme, with a hand and a representation of particle physics.
The 200 is a high-value note by most standards, so check it in full rather than relying on one feature, substrate feel, transparent cross and globe, tilt effect on the numeral, microtext and tactile bars.
The 1000 franc note is purple and takes language and communication as its theme. It is one of the highest-value banknotes in general circulation anywhere in the world.
Because of its value it deserves the complete sequence: the papery-but-windowed feel of the Durasafe substrate, the transparent Swiss cross, the globe with its moving element, the tilt effect on the numeral 1000, the microtext under a magnifier, the ultraviolet check and the tactile bars.
Many Swiss shops will not accept a 1000 franc note for a small purchase. If you are carrying francs for travel, ask for a mix weighted towards 50s and 100s.
Source: Swiss National Bank, banknote security features
Every note is checked at the counter. Call or WhatsApp your nearest Mythri Forex branch.
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