The Vreneli gold coin is the informal name for a series of Swiss-made gold coins. The coin is known by a variety of names, formally as the Helvetia Head (English) Tête d’Helvetia (French) or Helvetiakopf (German). Informally it is also known as Vreneli, Helvetia, Swiss Miss or simply as Gold 20 Swiss Francs. The Vreneli is a gold bullion coin, but it also has a numismatic following.
The coins were issued between 1897 and 1936, in 1947 and in 1949. The coin ceased to be legal tender in 1936 and all coins issued after 1936 are re-minted.
The series consisted of 10, 20 and 100 Swiss franc coins. The 20 franc is by far the most popular. The 100 franc coin was only produced in 1925 with a small issue of 5,000. Around 61 million coins have been produced in the series.
All coins were made of 90% gold (900 millesimal fineness).
The obverse shows the head of a young woman with simply the words ‘HELVETIA’ written above. The female figure has braided hair and her shoulders are covered with a garment. In the background are the Swiss mountains.
The reverse of the 20 franc coin shows the Swiss coat of arms, with the Swiss cross and an oak wreath tied with ribbons along with the denomination on the left (in this case, 20) and the coin on the right (FR for Swiss francs). ) .
One currency, many names
The design was by Fritz Ulysse Landry in 1895 and the model for the obverse is believed to have been Françoise Engli.
The coin is known as Helvetia due to the unique inscription on the obverse. Helvetia is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially Confœderatio Helvetica, the Swiss Confederation. Helvetia is also a variation of the official Latin name for Switzerland.
The name Vreneli is believed to derive from Verena, another personification of the Swiss Confederation in female effigy (similar to the American Lady Liberty). This is why the coins are sometimes colloquially called Swiss Miss.
The coins were minted at the Swiss Mint in Bern (although the die was engraved at the Paris Mint). The coins bear a mint mark of a “B” (no dot) for Bern. Reminted ones have an “L” mintmark.
The specification of the 20 franc coin is:
- Diameter: 21mm
- Thickness: 1.25mm
- Weight: 6.45 g, so the gold content is 5.805 g or 0.1866 oz
The 10 franc coin weighs 3.23 g and contains 2.9 g of pure gold.
