Federal Treasury  (1914)

On August 14, 1914, the Federal Department of Finance authorized the Federal Bank to issue three notes of 5, 10 and 20 francs Type 1914, pledging payment in legal tender and backed by the value of the silver crown and coins. gold of 10 and 20 francs. These treasury bills bear the name of the Federal Treasury "Die Eidgenössische Staatskasse (DES)", but were in fact issued by the Swiss National Bank "Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB)". The front and back decals are virtually identical for each of the notes. Since the texts and values ​​are translated into German, French and Italian, there are therefore nine different notes issued in total for the Federal Bank. The 10 franc note features a portrait of William Tell, while the 5 and 20 franc notes feature a portrait of Arnold Winkelreid. The denominations were printed on a very fragile paper by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Company of London and in an amount roughly corresponding to the proportion of the German, French and Italian speaking Swiss population. These rare notes circulated until 1926.