Modern coin hoard from Ueberstorf, canton Fribourg

The coin hoard from Ueberstorf in the canton of Fribourg consists of French gold coins and Swiss silver coins. Coin hoard from Ueberstorf, canton Fribourg (selection), after 1555, gold and silver

© Swiss National Museum

Money scale from Geneva

Fine scales were used to check gold coins being exchanged. These money scales incorporated not only pans and a beam, but also a set of coin weights for the various currencies. Money scale, Jacques Blanc, Geneva, around 1700, brass and wood

© Swiss National Museum

Leih- und Sparkasse vom Linthgebiet

‘Leih- und Sparkasse vom Linthgebiet’, known today as ‘LLB Schweiz’, was founded in 1848 in Uznach in the canton of St. Gallen as the ‘Leih- & Spar-Kassa des See-Bezirks’. Money box from Leih- und Sparkasse vom Linthgebiet, 1967–1970, aluminium/iron

© Swiss National Museum

Bearer share

Alfred Escher founded ‘Schweizerische Kreditanstalt’ in Zurich in 1856 to end Switzerland’s dependence on foreign countries for large loans to industry. Renamed ‘Credit Suisse’ after several mergers, the bank was acquired by UBS in 2023. Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, 500 franc bearer share (blank), Zurich, 1857. Swiss National Museum

Bank in Basel CHF 50

Before 1907, Swiss banks each printed their own banknotes. Despite being standardized by law in 1881, they continued to be issued by different banks. Since the establishment of the Swiss National Bank in 1907, the current banknote series from the National Bank has been the only one valid in Switzerland. Bank in Basel, 50 franc banknote, Zug 1879. Swiss National Museum

Customer safe from Schweizerische Volksbank

Founded in Bern in 1869, ‘Schweizerische Volksbank’ was Switzerland’s second-largest bank by 1930 but almost went bankrupt in autumn 1933, and proceeded to focus on its Swiss business. The bank was acquired by Credit Suisse in 1993. Customer safe from the headquarters of Schweizerische Volksbank, Basel, 1912, sheet iron

© Swiss National Museum

SKA ski cap

In 1977 and the following years, Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA) distributed around 800,000 caps with its logo free of charge to young people in Switzerland.

© Swiss National Museum

Schweizerische Kreditanstalt

The headquarters of ‘Schweizerische Kreditanstalt’ (Swiss Credit Institution) in Zurich was built between 1872 and 1877 according to plans by Jakob Friedrich Wanner. Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, Paradeplatz, Zurich, around 1885. Swiss National Museum

National Bank

The National Bank building in Bern, designed by architect Eduard Joos (1869–1917), was planned and constructed between 1907 and 1912. National Bank in Bern, Photo-House Rüedi S.A., Lugano, 1956. Swiss National Museum