Coinage metals
Terms such as “billon” and “Nordic Gold”, and abbreviations such as Ag and Pt are commonly used by experienced coin collectors. We have summarised the most important terms and abbreviations for younger collectors.
Coinage metals used by Swissmint to mint the regular issue and special coins of today
With the exception of the 5-centime coins, all Swiss regular issue coins are minted in cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). Silver, gold or platinum is used for special coins. Bimetal special coins consist of aluminium bronze and cupronickel alloys. The 5-centime coins are made of aluminium bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminium, 2% nickel).
Ag
= chemical symbol for silver (Latin: argentum).
Used exclusively for special coins.
Au
= chemical symbol for gold (Latin: aurum).
Used exclusively for special coins.
Cu
= chemical symbol for copper (Latin: cuprum).
Main component of all Swiss regular issue coins.
A1
= chemical symbol for aluminium (Latin: alumen).
The 5-centime coins contain 6% aluminium.
Ni
= chemical symbol for nickel (Latin: niccolum).
Second most important component of all Swiss regular issue coins.
Pt
= chemical symbol for platinum (Latin: platinum).
Used for a special coin in 2022.
Aluminium bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminium, 2% nickel)
is a golden copper alloy with a low aluminium content.
Cupronickel (75% copper, 25% nickel)
is an alloy of copper and nickel. Copper turns silvery at nickel contents of 15% or higher. Cupronickel is available under various trade names, such as Magnimat.
Fineness
Fineness indicates the proportion of pure precious metal in an alloy and is expressed in parts per thousand (‰). A fineness of 0.800 means that the alloy is 80% precious metal and 20% other alloy metals, which contribute to the hardness and colour of the alloy. 925 silver, also called sterling silver, consists of 925 parts pure silver and 75 parts copper. 999.9 gold is practically pure gold, except that one ten-thousandth of its weight consists of other components.
Swiss gold coins are minted from 0.900 gold. Only the ¼-franc special coin minted in 2020 was in 0.9999 gold. Since November 2022, Swiss silver coins have been minted in “pure” 0.999 silver. Older commemorative coins were minted in 0.835, 0.800 or 0.900 silver.
More terminology you should know:
German silver
also known as nickel silver, consists of 30–77% copper, 11–26% nickel and 12–44% zinc. The alloy shines a silvery colour, is tough and has low conductivity. The name is deceiving, as the alloy contains 0% silver.
Coinage metals used in older Swissmint mintages
Billion
is a copper alloy with a low silver content. The Swiss billon coins (5, 10 and 20 centimes) had a silver content of 5% to 15%. The last 5-centime billon coins were minted in 1877. Billon coins are not to be confused with bullion coins, which are investment coins aimed primarily at investors.
Nordic Gold™
consists of 89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc and 1% tin. Bimetal special coins were minted with Nordic Gold until 2003.
Brass
consists of 60–70% copper, 40–30% zinc and less than 3% lead. The last 10-centime coins made of brass were minted in 1919.
Bronze
was used for 1-centime coins until 2006 and for 2-centime coins until 1974.
Pure nickel
is nickel with a fineness of 0.996. It was used until 1941 to mint 5, 10 and 20-centime coins.
Crude zinc
is zinc with a fineness of 0.99995. It was used in the production of 1 and 2-centime coins from 1942 to 1946.