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    Best way to exchange old Francs and coins as a foreigner visiting?
    Switzerland

    Best way to exchange old Francs and coins as a foreigner visiting?


    Are banks willing to exchange all these coins and notes without a big fuss or will I have to roll all of these by myself at a bank or is there a limit to how much I can convert? I have done some research and have taken out all 1967 and older coins though.

    https://i.redd.it/r71ht8dilcud1.jpeg

    Posted by Zappendaddy

    View 14 Comments

    14 Comments

    1. R3DKn16h7 on

      You’ve got some nice stuff there.

      Some of the currency that is worth face value (eight series, like the le courbusier 10 franchs, giacometti 100 etc.) you have to exchange with the BNS (EDIT: or some field office). I think you can go to their office or mail it. Banks won’t exchange it any longer.

      Here the info:
      https://www.snb.ch/en/the-snb/mandates-goals/cash/all-series/all-series-overview#t02

      Some stuff seems to be worth more than face value (I see some nice silver coin and commemorative 5 CHF?). Then you could maybe try Ricardo?

    3. Mountainpixels on

      Exchange the banknotes at the SNB in Zurich or Bern. The coins are still all legal tender, spend it at a restaurant or while shopping groceries.

      Also, all 1969 five franc coins still have some silver, I wouldn’t spend them too.

    5. trimigoku on

      5 CHF coins minted in 1969 or before 1967 have silver on them and are more valuable then face value

    6. an-ordinary-manchild on

      IDK if it’s the case for everywhere, but a person by the exchange desk at SBB Basel HB exchanged my old Francs into Euros and then back into (new) Francs. I just had to pay the exchange rate gap twice.

    9. mantellaaurantiaca on

      You have until end of April 2025 to exchange your old 6th series bills otherwise you’re gonna lose CHF 290.

    13. SwissPewPew on

      In the plastic case with the many 5 CHF coins, there seem to also be a lot of (official) collectors coins, also some that are newer than 1967. Be careful with those, as likely any bank or the national bank will happily exchange them for face value (5 CHF), but you will likely get more money if you sell them privately to a collector or to a shop dealing in collectors coins.

      Also, looking at a closeup of the picture, all the individually packaged coins seem to be older (some even dated 18-hundred-something), so for these definitely look at collectors value. Again, any bank or the national bank will happily exchange them for face value, but the better price you will get from selling private to collectors or to collectors shops. For the rarer ones, you could even try to sell them online (e.g. eBay) or in your home country; maybe you can get an even higher price (while they are “rare” in Switzerland, they might be even “rarer” outside Switzerland)

    14. daoverachiever on

      please don‘t bring em to the SNB. Look for coin collectors shop, there are still some around. sell it tho them so they can find a good home for those coins and bills.