A not so short report from Switzerland

I just returned from an 8 day vacation to the land of watches and knives
that do everything but juggle. While they have a 1 and 5 rappen coin,
they are virtually never used (at the time I was there, one Swiss Franc
equalled about 83 cents US). The 1/2 Franc coin is used quite often and
shares the same dimensional conundrum as our dime in that it is actually
smaller than the 10 rappen piece. There are also a 2 franc and 5 franc
piece, both of which are used frequently. The smallest note is the 10
franc with a 20, 50, 100, and 200 franc note all seeing heavy use. Part
of the reason a 200 franc note (about $165 US) gets such heavy use is
because everything there is so blasted expensive- a 5dl (about 17 ounce)
bottle of Coke=99 or any soft drink for that matter is about $4 US; gas
is about $4.50 US a gallon, so you can see why a roughly $4.40 coin is
handy. FWIW, I did not ask anyone if they prefer the coin to a note
because I don't speak good enough German and I was having too goood a
time to care. I personally did not fin the 2 and 5 franc coins to be
obtrusive.
I also was able to attend a coin show while I was there. Aside
from the nearly $6 US entry fee (whenever I give a price in $US, I'm
converting from what the cost was in Swiss francs (CHF)), there were a
few differences. First, smoking is definitely ok- at least 40% of the
people on the bourse were smoking and while I didn't witness any ashes
landing on any coins, you have to wonder if it happens (at least I do).
Also, the whole "hold the coin by the edge only" thing doesn't see to be
too big of a deal- when I asked to see a medal, the dealer put his thumb
right on the obverse and smiled as he handed it to me (I refrained from
a "mein gott"). Customers also had no problem with the pincer grasp
technique- perhaps acetone is cheaper over there than we think. Prices
for European bronz medals were actually quite favorable and I was able
to pick up a few nice pieces as well as a beautiful Meissen notgeld
porcelain presentation set. The Swiss mint was also there, selling their
two new commemoratives- the 10 franc Matterhorn and 20 franc Chateau
Chillon pieces for face value in BU condition (proofs were available for
a premium). The Swiss mint and proof sets were expensive- about $65 for
the proof set and $25 for the mint set and that's not silver, either.
Overall, an interesting trip numsmatically and a beautiful country well
worth a visit (save up first).

-Steve, hahben zee ein tsvantish franc commemorativ
mit Chateau Chillon?

On Wed, 5 May 2004 22:33:39 -0400, Steven Preston
wrote:

I just returned from an 8 day vacation to the land of watches and knives
that do everything but juggle. While they have a 1 and 5 rappen coin,
they are virtually never used (at the time I was there, one Swiss Franc
equalled about 83 cents US). The 1/2 Franc coin is used quite often and
shares the same dimensional conundrum as our dime in that it is actually
smaller than the 10 rappen piece. There are also a 2 franc and 5 franc
piece, both of which are used frequently. The smallest note is the 10
franc with a 20, 50, 100, and 200 franc note all seeing heavy use. Part
of the reason a 200 franc note (about $165 US) gets such heavy use is
because everything there is so blasted expensive- a 5dl (about 17 ounce)
bottle of Cokeâ„¢ or any soft drink for that matter is about $4 US; gas
is about $4.50 US a gallon, so you can see why a roughly $4.40 coin is
handy. FWIW, I did not ask anyone if they prefer the coin to a note
because I don't speak good enough German and I was having too goood a
time to care. I personally did not fin the 2 and 5 franc coins to be
obtrusive.

It doesn't matter how good your German is your not going to understand
Swiss. Bavarians and Austrians you can understand if they want you to but
Swiss is another matter.

I also was able to attend a coin show while I was there. Aside
from the nearly $6 US entry fee (whenever I give a price in $US, I'm
converting from what the cost was in Swiss francs (CHF)), there were a
few differences. First, smoking is definitely ok- at least 40% of the
people on the bourse were smoking and while I didn't witness any ashes
landing on any coins, you have to wonder if it happens (at least I do).
Also, the whole "hold the coin by the edge only" thing doesn't see to be
too big of a deal- when I asked to see a medal, the dealer put his thumb
right on the obverse and smiled as he handed it to me (I refrained from
a "mein gott"). Customers also had no problem with the pincer grasp
technique- perhaps acetone is cheaper over there than we think. Prices
for European bronz medals were actually quite favorable and I was able
to pick up a few nice pieces as well as a beautiful Meissen notgeld
porcelain presentation set. The Swiss mint was also there, selling their
two new commemoratives- the 10 franc Matterhorn and 20 franc Chateau
Chillon pieces for face value in BU condition (proofs were available for
a premium). The Swiss mint and proof sets were expensive- about $65 for
the proof set and $25 for the mint set and that's not silver, either.
Overall, an interesting trip numsmatically and a beautiful country well
worth a visit (save up first).

-Steve, hahben zee ein tsvantish franc commemorativ
mit Chateau Chillon?

Nice report, I think the Europeans are slowly starting to think about
curbing smoking. You'd think with universal health care they'd be all for
it, but maybe dying of cancer is cheaper than living to be 90.

(Steven Preston) wrote
I just returned from an 8 day vacation to the land of watches and knives
that do everything but juggle.

In THE THIRD MAN, our villain Harry Lime justifies his black market in
medicine by saying something like "In one generation of assassination,
poisoning and murder, the Medici gave us the Renaissance and in 500
years of peace and democracy, all the Swiss have given the world is
the cuckoo clock." For all of that, about a week after I got home, I
was at my desk at got a wave of homesickness for Basel.

Riding the trams, I enjoyed hearing the difference in the
pronunciation of the street names that flashed on the marquee.
"Rennschtross" for Rheinstrasse, for instance.

Michael
"prefers cuckoos to poison"

Overall, an interesting trip numsmatically and a beautiful country well
worth a visit (save up first).

Steve, do you collect US coins?

I always imagine these foreign shows might be cherry orchards ripe for the
picking for a US collector, relying on the old saw that "knowledge is power."

For example, how many Europeans have up-to-date price lists for American coins?
How many are able to spot common American varieties that have premium value?
They don't grade like we do, so condition rarities are more common. It seems
like buying Swiss coins in Switzerland would be tougher because they are more
knowledgeable than you are, but buying US coins would give you the edge,
n'est-ce pas?

Regards,
Tom

Jorg Lueke wrote:

It doesn't matter how good your German is your not going to understand
Swiss. Bavarians and Austrians you can understand if they want you to but
Swiss is another matter.

Guess what confuses many non-German visitors is that the written
language in the "German" speaking parts of Switzerland is usually
standard German. The spoken language, however, is something pretty
different ;-)

Nice report, I think the Europeans are slowly starting to think about
curbing smoking. You'd think with universal health care they'd be all for
it, but maybe dying of cancer is cheaper than living to be 90.

Well, it's not just their own health - their smoking affects others,
that is the worse part about it. By the way, it's not the Europeans.
Public opinion and the legal situation in, say, Ireland is quite
different from, say, Italy.

At least the EU finally decided to phase the subsidies for tobacco
farmers out ...

Christian

Steven Preston wrote:

While they have a 1 and 5 rappen coin,
they are virtually never used

Well, I think the 1 rappen coins are still made for mint sets. But apart
from that, they are not used.

The 1/2 Franc coin is used quite often and shares the same dimensional
conundrum as our dime in that it is actually smaller than the 10 rappen
piece.

And for the same reason. The 1/2 fr piece used to be silver and is now
CuNi while the 10 rappen was and is a nickel coin.

Also, the whole "hold the coin by the edge only" thing doesn't see to be
too big of a deal- when I asked to see a medal, the dealer put his thumb
right on the obverse and smiled as he handed it to me

Eeek. Well, maybe it depends on the coin show or the dealer, but I would
not like that. Seems that, apart from that, and the smokers, you had a
great time!

Christian

I guess when I saw your report, I was hoping to see reports of very old
coins still in circulation. Other intrepid travellers from North America to
Switzerland have reported getting coins dated back into the 1930's etc in
circulation. It is possible with the 10, 20 Rappen coins, as they were
nickle and the designs were the same for over 100 years.

Here in the USA I very occasionally will find a Jefferson nickle from back
in the late 1930's, the 1940's appear a few times a month.

Dave
--
Please see my Numismatic Website;
http://www.delta.edu/davidparrish

Tir nam Beann, nan Gleann, s'nan Gaisgeach - Saor Alba A-Nis!
"Steven Preston" wrote in message
...
I just returned from an 8 day vacation to the land of watches and knives
that do everything but juggle. While they have a 1 and 5 rappen coin,
they are virtually never used (at the time I was there, one Swiss Franc
equalled about 83 cents US). The 1/2 Franc coin is used quite often and
shares the same dimensional conundrum as our dime in that it is actually
smaller than the 10 rappen piece. There are also a 2 franc and 5 franc
piece, both of which are used frequently.


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On Thu, 6 May 2004 19:36:36 +0200, Christian Feldhaus
wrote:

Jorg Lueke wrote:

It doesn't matter how good your German is your not going to understand
Swiss. Bavarians and Austrians you can understand if they want you to
but
Swiss is another matter.

Guess what confuses many non-German visitors is that the written
language in the "German" speaking parts of Switzerland is usually
standard German. The spoken language, however, is something pretty
different ;-)

You know they can speak German perfectly well if they wanted to. When I
was a kid I could speak Swabian which my parents never understood. After
emigrating I kept the base language but the dialect is now completly
incomprehensible to me as well.

Nice report, I think the Europeans are slowly starting to think about
curbing smoking. You'd think with universal health care they'd be all
for
it, but maybe dying of cancer is cheaper than living to be 90.

Well, it's not just their own health - their smoking affects others,
that is the worse part about it. By the way, it's not the Europeans.
Public opinion and the legal situation in, say, Ireland is quite
different from, say, Italy.

Sure, sure, everywhere I go there's a giant cloud of smoke :-)

At least the EU finally decided to phase the subsidies for tobacco
farmers out ...

I don't think we've done that yet.

Tom asks:

Steve, do you collect US coins?
I always imagine these foreign shows might be
cherry orchards ripe for the picking for a US
collector, relying on the old saw that
"knowledge is power."
For example, how many Europeans have
up-to-date price lists for American coins? How
many are able to spot common American
varieties that have premium value?
They don't grade like we do, so condition
rarities are more common. It seems like buying
Swiss coins in Switzerland would be tougher
because they are more knowledgeable than
you are, but buying US coins would give you
the edge, n'est-ce pas?

Why yes, Tom, yes I do collect US coins :-)
Actually, aside from a few classic commems, there's just not a lot of US
material I'm looking for right now. You're generally correct except
since US coins are the "rarity" there, some dealers have them priced
higher than they would be in the US. I did see a modern clad Soccer
proof half dollar woefully underpriced at $20, but it was in a 2x2 and I
didn't think it worth the bother. As for condition rarity, you're
correct in that the Swiss don't care, but the average Swiss dealer isn't
going to have enough US material to have a MS-68 Washington quarter
anyway for me to cherrypick for "regular unc." money. Sadly, I like
unusual enough things that I don't need to learn how to cherrypick, I
need to kumquat pick

-Steve