A friend gave us some Swiss Francs she had leftover from a trip years ago. I'd love to use them but I'm concerned that they might be old enough that they are no longer negotiable; I know some countries like to toss out their currency every so often.
Anyone have any currency info? Any way to check it?
I'd just go ahead and take them. If they're not accepted, so be it. They are Swiss Francs after all, not Austrian Schillings or Italian Lira.
It turns out that yes, there was a "recall" a few years ago. The Swiss tourist office in NYC was kind enough to send me this wanted poster
http://www.snb.ch/en/mmr/reference/instr_recalled_notes/source/instr_recalled_notes.en.pdf
There you go. Free money! I've got a 20 pound BoE note and a couple of fivers laying around that are getting long in the tooth. Maybe someday. I've given up on my Schillings and FF's and Guilders.
Thanks, phred. As that link specifies, exchanges can be made at the National Bank of Switzerland for a period of years, and that is standard procedure in most countries, that only the national bank handles the old currency.
The present Swiss Franc banknotes are in use since twenty years or so, so it is likely that your francs are still good. Check your banknotes against the designs of the 8th series at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc that are the current banknotes. Also have a look at http://www.snb.ch/en/iabout/cash
My father once found in a drawer some banknotes of an earlier series; I was able to exchange them at the National bank (but I had to send them by mail from Switzerland as I could not go directly) and it was a long job.
The coins are always the same, you will find in current use even coins minted in the fifties or earlier.
Thanks for the info Phred! I pulled out all my old swiss notes. They are new. The most noticeable difference is that the picture is "portrait" not "landscape" orientation.
