Traditional and innovative minting skills

Swissmint supplies Switzerland with circulation coins for daily use on behalf of the Swiss Confederation. Since 1936, Swissmint has also been minting special coins such as the famous gold Vreneli. Our work focuses on craftsmanship and quality as well as economic efficiency and sustainability.

Our vision

Our work and our expertise enable us to supply Switzerland with counterfeit-proof circulation coins. We use our know-how and flexibility to create miniature works of art and sentimental value. At the heart of all this is our team of creative employees.

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Long-standing Swiss history

The Federal Mint Swissmint has been located in the Kirchenfeld district of Bern since 1906 and has been producing Swiss franc coins ever since. Since 1936, the Swiss Confederation has issued special coins to commemorate important historical and cultural events and to honour prominent figures.

Pressing on the big friction screw press

In the packing department, the coins counted by the two men on a counting board on the left are filled into the prefabricated paper rolls with a funnel by the women.

Checking Planchets

Mintage. The blanks are filled by hand into the tubular filler pipes of the minting machine.

Minting

Handpacking Bags

Annealing the planchets in the annealing furnace.

Foundry

Casting the metal strips

The Mint

The Federal Mint Swissmint enjoys an excellent reputation among numismatists both in Switzerland and throughout the world. Numismatics is, to be precise, the scientific study of money and history. But coin collecting, too, is generally called numismatics. It is also the link between coins and history that make collecting really interesting. What’s more, an old, well-worn piece could undoubtedly tell more than a good condition minting that has spent its entire life in a cash box. Nevertheless: the collector prefers coins in the best possible condition.

From the artist’s sketch to the finished die
Every coin starts with an artist’s sketch. The engraver then uses this to create a virtual, three-dimensional image on the computer. If this corresponds to the desired result, a CNC milling machine is subsequently used to create an oversized synthetic model based on the available data. This mainly serves to assess the result obtained. Once the model is correct, the data can be used to reduce the design directly to coin size, i.e. milled into an unhardened steel cylinder. Between 8 to 14 hours are necessary to transfer all the details of the model into the unhardened steel.

During this process, the hardened steel is pressed into unhardened steel, creating an exact copy of the coin image on the latter. Finally, this positive die is used to produce the actual negative minting dies. After pressing, these are turned into the correct shape, hardened, and a thin, hard layer of chrome is applied to enhance durability. Up to 1 million coins can be minted with one pair of dies.

Minting and packing swiss special coins
As opposed to circulation coins which are continuously struck in normal quality, collector’s coins are either minted in reduced quantities in brilliant uncirculated quality, or individually with two strokes for coins in polished plate quality (also known as proof, PP, or mint gloss). The minting of collector’s coins in normal quality is identical to that of circulation coins. Whereas the blanks supplied for coins to be minted in normal or brilliant uncirculated qualities require no further preparation (as is also the case with blanks for circulation coins), those reserved for proof-quality coins are subjected to a series of preparatory processes, including annealing, pickling, peen-finishing, washing, and stain-free drying with the aim of achieving optimum surface quality. In order to obtain the best possible contrast between the lustre of the field and the frosted appearance of the relief, the minting dies used for proof coins are also specially polished.

Special coins in proof quality are hand-packed first in coin capsules and then in elegant cardboard boxes with slipcase, those in uncirculated quality are sealed. The annual circulation coin sets in both proof and brilliant uncirculated qualities are presented in a modern outfit of transparent shell packaging, as well as the special coins sets for birth, birthday and Christmas.

Medal

A medal is a round or oval coin-like piece of minted metal that has no function as a means of payment. Medals are mainly used as collector’s items or as awards for honour and merit. Medals can be minted by private institutions and have no nominal value.

Coin

A coin has a legal face value and can be used as a means of payment. However, depending on the design of the coin, it is important to make a distinction between a legal tender coin or a special coin. Special coins can be made of high-quality metals. The metal value or collector’s value is usually higher than the face value of such coins. Coins are usually issued by national mints or produced on behalf of countries.