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Banknotes of the Swiss franc are issued by the Swiss National Bank in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 1,000 Swiss francs.
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History
The first banknotes in Switzerland were issued in 1825 by the Caisse de dépôt of the city of Bern.
During the 19th century the Cantons had the right of printing notes. Following the law of 8 March 1881 the Swiss National Bank had the exclusive right to issue banknotes in Switzerland. First notes were issued in 1907. Since then, eight series of Swiss franc notes have been printed, six of which have been released for use by the general public, and a new series is expected in 2016.
Security and counterfeiting
According to the 2008 edition of Guinness World Records the current series of Swiss Franc notes is the most secure in the world with up to 18 security features including a tilting digit which can only be seen from an unusual angle, a UV digit that can only be seen under ultraviolet light and micro text. According to the central banks, the ratio of counterfeited bank notes is about 1 in 100,000 of real bank notes for the Swiss franc, of 1 in 20,000 for the Euro, of 1 in 10,000 for the United States dollar and of 1 in 3,333 for the Pound sterling.