Casinos supporting Swiss Franc Currency

The Swiss franc has had a long history and competed for favour as the national coinage with more options than almost any other monetary unit currently in use. Before the introduction of the Helvetic Republic, which was the first major attempt to turn Switzerland from a loose collection of self-governing townships into a real nation, every canton, half-canton, hamlet, and even abbey would be allowed to mint and produce its own coinage. At one point there were around 860 different types of coins in circulation in what is now known as Switzerland.

Other than the fact that anyone could make their own coins, the biggest problem with having so many different types of currency was that they all had different values, denominations, and even whole monetary systems. This made trade difficult at best and impossible in many cases.

The introduction of the Helvetic Republic in 1798 brought with it a standard currency, the Swiss franc, which was based on the Berne thaler and worth about one and a half French francs or 6 3/4 grams of silver.

Today the Swiss franc is the official currency of Switzerland and Lichtenstein. Because of the many official languages of Switzerland, the writing on coins and banknotes is in Latin.