Switzerland and Its Gold Coins

I assume that almost every Silvergoldstacker has this coin in their pile. Or in their safe. At home or in a bank. Or buried in the garden along with other coins. Or walled up in the basement. Or displayed in a glass case in the guest room? I don't know. But with this reflection, I have strayed quite far from my original thought. To sum up, we probably all store our coins differently and in different places.

And actually, I assume that we all have more coins of this type. Because the Swiss twenty-franc gold coin is a completely classic coin.

But what do you know about Switzerland itself? Gold bars, banks, chocolate, medicine, skiing, St. Bernard dogs. But Switzerland is a very interesting country full of paradoxes.

The League of Nations, the predecessor of today's UN, was based in Geneva between the world wars. Because Switzerland is neutral, after all. And yet Switzerland is one of the most militarized countries in the world. However, Switzerland does not have an army.

Switzerland has its own militia. Only about 4,000 soldiers are professionals. In Switzerland, military service is compulsory for men and voluntary for women. Every year, about 40,000 recruits are drafted and sent to the reserves after about five months, where they remain until they are about 34 years old. This reserve army numbers about 200,000 individuals who regularly participate in military exercises several times a year.

If necessary, Switzerland can mobilize around 2 million trained soldiers.

In the event of a threat, these soldiers have uniforms and weapons with ammunition at home and are able to take up combat positions within tens of minutes.

Switzerland consists mainly of barren mountainous terrain and has almost no mineral resources. Since the Middle Ages, Swiss men have earned their living as mercenaries all over the world.

The Swiss were perfect soldiers. They were absolutely loyal to those who paid them for their service. They did not do it for honor and glory, but so that their successors could ask for higher pay. In the 16th century, for the same amount of money, you could hire 100 Swiss musketeers, or 200 German musketeers, or 5,000 Hungarian horsemen with horses. That was the difference in combat value.

For the last 200 years or so, the Swiss have been digging bunkers and fortresses into their rocks, where they keep their ammunition supplies. Occasionally, a warehouse explodes. But the fortification system and combat-ready army meant that the Swiss were not drawn into any of the world wars.

Hitler tried to control Switzerland through an economic blockade. But the Swiss are patriots. During World War II, they managed to be self-sufficient in food supplies. At the cost of plowing up soccer fields for example.

The inhabitants consider themselves Swiss, even though they are divided linguistically into four groups. Most speak German, a quarter speak French, a tenth speak Italian, and less than one percent speak Romansh.

Switzerland, along with Andorra and San Marino, is one of the oldest existing European democracies. Direct democracy is widespread here. Referendums carry great weight. Switzerland is divided into cantons. In two of the 26 cantons, laws are approved at assemblies of all citizens. Voting is done by a show of hands. The votes are counted by special officials using telescopes.

The country is governed by a seven-member federal council. All members take turns serving as president, with the rotation taking place every year.

All of this went through my mind when I picked up this coin. Do you also try to find out as much as possible about your coins, about the countries in which and for which they were minted? Are you interested in the fates of the rulers and symbols depicted on them? I am interested in all of this.

All coins and photographs shown are my property. I used Deepl.com to translate into English.