Switzerland: New Series of Banknotes Delayed

[Bimat]

Feb 9, 2012 - 11:18

Central bank delays new notes

The issue of the next series of Swiss bank notes has been delayed by "unexpected technical problems", the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced on Thursday.

It did not elaborate, but said the delay would be of "at least one year".

However, a bank spokesman told the AP news agency that "anti-forgery features in the notes have never before been used in large-scale print runs".

"The SNB will announce the issue date as soon as the first banknote denomination is ready for distribution," the bank said in a statement.

Issue of the new notes had already been postponed in 2010 because of the time needed to develop innovative security improvements. It was then announced that the first note of the new series should come into circulation at the end of this year.

The bank says the current series continues to offer a high standard of security and the supply is guaranteed at all times.

The new series depicts Switzerland "as a meeting place and platform for organisation, creativity, adventure, humanity, progress and dialogue".

The current series of banknotes, the eighth, features famous Swiss and went into circulation between 1995 and 1998.

The sixth series stopped being legal tender in 2000. The seventh series was never issued: it is being kept as the reserve.

Source: Swissinfo

[chrisild]

By the way, the design competition for the new notes was won by Manuel Krebs; the second prize went to Manuela Pfrunder whose designs can also be seen on the website, as well as all other entries. Then, in a second phase or stage of the contest, when practical aspects apparently played the major role, the central bank decided that Pfrunder would get the job but that she would have to modify the designs to some extent ...

Christian

[Bimat]

And now we have Official Press Release by Swiss Central Bank.



Aditya

[Bimat]

New Swiss bank note launch put off again

Thursday, 9 August, 2012, 14:56

We'll have to wait another year for our new bank notes.

The Swiss National Bank had initially scheduled the launch for 2010, then delayed it to the end of this year.

It has now put it off again till the end of next year or even later.

The hold-up seems to be over high tech paper layers that just aren't sticking together the way they should, according to the Tagesanzeiger newspaper.

Source: WorldRadio

[chrisild]

Have now found the Tagesanzeiger story (article in German) that the one you posted refers to. Seems that Landqart (a security paper manufacturer, subsidiary of the Canadian Fortress Paper) is to blame. Landqart developed a three-layer "paper" called Durasafe, a combination of paper/cotton (outer layers) and polymer (middle layer). The polymer layer has features such as transparent windows. Now according to that article, keeping the three layers together is a problem that has not been solved yet ...

(Side note: The article also mentions that Fortress/Landqart delivered sub-standard paper to the German Bundesdruckerei last year. Due to corroding security threads in the paper, the Bundesdruckerei then ordered the required paper from Louisenthal. Which is a little ironic as Louisenthal is a subsidiary of Giesecke & Devrient, the second German banknote manufacturer. )

Christian

[Bimat]

..And the delay story continues.

Issuance of the new banknote series in 2015 at the earliest

In February 2012, the National Bank informed the public that the new banknote series would be postponed. Today, I would like to provide some background information on our decision.

The National Bank is committed to putting banknotes into circulation that are state of the art in terms of both their design and their technological aspects. In order to meet this standard, such a project must be launched at an early stage. Integrating and combining security features involving new technologies that have not previously been used for banknotes presents a special challenge. Since the development phase for new security features is very long, launching a new series is likely to take several years for the technical feasibility assessment alone.  Certain insights can only be gained during the actual serial production.

The development of the new banknote series began in 2005 with a design competition. In the planning phase for the technical feasibility and during initial production tests in 2010, it became evident that the complexity of the new security features necessitated a postponement of the issue date to autumn 2012. In autumn 2011, during an early phase of the serial production, technical difficulties arose which had not been discernible in the testing phase, whose results were positive. For this reason, the SNB this year decided to conduct a comprehensive re-assessment of the entire project together with the industrial partners producing the new banknote on its behalf. As a result, several mostly technical measures were defined and in some cases have already been implemented. These measures should ensure that the series can go into long-term industrial production.

Owing to the complexity and scope of the necessary work, the first denomination of theseries, the CHF 50 note, may be expected in 2015 at the earliest. The SNB will announce the issue date as soon as  production of  the first banknote denomination  has been completed.

Since the National Bank wants to continue meeting the highest quality standards, it has accepted a postponement in the new issue, a decision which was rendered all the easier because the banknotes currently in circulation continue to offer a high standard of security.

Source: Official Press Release

[chrisild]

Guess that the current designs are fine, so the "look" will not be a reason to issue new notes. The names of the issuing central bank, and the currency name, are still the same too, so that leaves the issue of counterfeited notes. And if that is not really a major problem in Switzerland, well, they can take all the time they want or need.

Christian

[Bimat]

New Swiss bank notes rollout, 2015 at earliest

December 12, 2013 by Ellen Wallace

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Swiss bank notes are among the most physically secure in the world and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said Thursday that it will not roll out its new series of notes until 2015 at the earliest to ensure that these are as secure as today's money.

State of the art technology and innovative design are the hallmarks of the series that will first roll out a new CHF50 note, Jean-Pierre Danthine, SNB governing board vice-chairman, told journalists in Zurich 12 December. Tests are currently being carried out, but, he added, there is no rush to move to the new series, whose publication date has been delayed several times.

He said that the SNB has been working closely with Orell Füssli, its partner for bank notes for more than 100 years, to ensure that any possible security gaps in production are plugged. The remarks follow the "abstraction" of a small number of CHF1,000 notes earlier this year from the firm's production line. Some of the notes, which had not completed production, made it into circulation. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

Source: Geneva Lunch

Image Caption: Zurich designer Manuela Pfunder in 2005 won the competition to design the new Swiss bank notes. This is her CHF50 design, but the finished notes will differ from her winning designs, says the SNB.

[Bimat]

The new series of banknotes has been delayed again...until 2016.

Source

Aditya

[chrisild]

Don't really see a new schedule here. In late 2013 the central bank said "2015 at the earliest". That certainly covers 2016 too, I think. Maybe even later.   I am sure the SNB will come up with a more precise schedule once they actually know when these notes will be ready for prime time ...

Christian

[Bimat]

New banknotes to be released — six years late

Published: 17 Aug 2015 11:48 GMT+02:00

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) plans to introduce the first of its new high-tech banknotes in April next year — six years later than initially planned after reported technical problems with its paper supplier.

The new 50-franc banknote will be released next year followed by the 20-franc note in 2017, the central bank said in a statement on Friday.

The ten-franc, 100-franc, 200-franc and 1,000-franc bills will be subsequently issued at half-yearly or yearly intervals until 2019, the SNB said.

They will mark the ninth series of banknotes to be issued by the SNB since it started producing banknotes for Switzerland in 1907.

But the latest series has encountered problems and repeated delays since a 2005 competition to design the new money, designed with the latest security features to deter counterfeiting.

The winning designs featuring blood cells and embryos, by artist Manuel Krebs, was ultimately abandoned by the SNB after public opposition.

Designs by Zurich graphic artist Manuela Pfrunder, the second place winner of the competition, were finally adopted.

Unlike the current banknotes, Pfrunder's designs do not feature images of famous Swiss people.

The 50-franc note shows a mountain and figures who appear to be hiking on one side with an image of the sun on the reverse side.

Skiers slaloming through a race course are on the ten-franc note but human figures are largely absent from designs for the other notes that include representations of a butterfly, snow crystals and wavy lines plotted by a graph.

After Pfrunder's designs were decided upon, Orell Füssli, the Zurich-based printer for the central bank, reportedly encountered technical problems with its supply of paper, which must be capable of incorporating the new security features.

The exact nature of the features will be disclosed when the first 50-franc denomination is put into circulation next year.

The SNB said the new notes are designed to last at least 15 years.

It emphasized that the current series of banknotes put into circulation between 1995 and 1998, remain secure and can continue to be produced in the quantities needed.

Indeed, according to a 2011 report from the University of Lausanne, Swiss banknotes remained far less likely to be counterfeited than the euro, the US dollar or the British pound.

The report, citing information from central banks, said the ratio of counterfeited banknotes was about one in 100,000 real banknotes for the Swiss franc.

The is compares with ratios of one in 20,000 for the euro, one in 10,000 for the dollar and one in 3,333 for the pound.

Source: The Local

[Bimat]

Have a look at all the submitted designs here (there are total 11 sets, links at the top of the page):

http://www.snb.ch/fr/iabout/cash/newcash/id/cash_new_result#t2

Some really nice designs out there!

Aditya

[onecenter]

Wow!  Those are very brightly-colored banknotes!

[Bimat]

Wow!  Those are very brightly-colored banknotes!

Agree...and I liked most of them!!!

Aditya

[Bimat]

Finally, it's here! The new 50 CHF banknote will be put into circulation on April 12, 2016. See news release by Swiss National Bank here. (Go to page 3)

Aditya