Fifty cent piece

Fifty cent piece
Data
Alloy:	75% copper 25% nickel
Weight:	2.20 g
Diameter:	18.20 mm
Thickness:	1.25 mm
Edge embossing:	ribbed
Artist:	Antoine Bovy

The fifty centime piece , also known as fifty rappen (in the dialect Füfzgi or Füfzger (li) ), is part of the Swiss currency and is worth half a franc , which corresponds to 50 cents .

Coin image

The fifty centime piece shows the coin value on the obverse (but in the unit of francs (½ Fr.) and not centimes) and the year in the wreath (left part of the wreath: oak leaves, right part of the wreath: rust-leaved alpine rose). On the back there is a standing Helvetia and 23 five-pointed stars, the same as for the one and two franc coins. For more information see two francs .

The mint mark "B" below the wreath on the value side stands for the Federal Mint in Bern. Some of the issues from 1968, 1969 and 1970 were minted in London, whereas those from 1968 and 1969 can be distinguished from the Bern issues by the fact that they do not have a mintmark. From 1970 to 1985, however, the mintmark was omitted from all coins.

composition

The fifty centime coin is smaller, thinner and lighter than the lower value twenty , ten and two centimes coins (the latter out of exchange) and both the coinage and motif correspond to the one and two franc coins. This is explained by the fact that the fifty cent coin, as well as one- franc and two-franc coins and five- franc coins, were made of a silver alloy until 1967 , while the coins of lower value never or contained very little precious metal. In the original first edition, care had to be taken that the precious metal value of the silver used did not exceed the nominal value of the coin. Nevertheless, this happened in the middle of the 20th century. The alloy was changed accordingly from 1968 onwards.

It is due to the original silver alloy that the fifty centime piece is exactly half as heavy as the one-francer and a quarter of the weight of the two-francer, corresponding to the face value.

Silver fifty centimes are out of circulation but still occasionally in circulation. Since the alloy difference is only noticeable to the experienced observer and if the year of issue is observed, these are accepted for payment without any problems. However, the sale of such coins to collectors is more lucrative.

Although the fifty-centime piece is imprinted with ½ Fr., it is not referred to as a "half-Franconian", but exclusively as a fifty-centime coin, "Füfzgi", fifty or something similar and is viewed by the population as a black coin.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ruedi Kunzmann: The silver coin crisis in Switzerland of 1968 and the activity of the Royal Mint , London In: Schweizer Münzblätter. Vol. 50, N ° 200, 2000, ISSN  0016-5565 , pp. 68-72.