Banknotes from the eighth series

The eighth banknote series was issued between 1995 and 1998.

These banknotes were recalled as of 30 April 2021 and are thus no longer legal tender. They can be exchanged for an unlimited period of time at the Swiss National Bank at full nominal value.

Design principles

banknote_widget_series_8_design_principle_denomination_100_front.n.jpg + +
  • Work situation

    The portrait is accompanied by a photograph in the top left-hand corner showing the personality in a typical work situation.

  • Portrait

    Unlike the intaglio print originals on traditional banknotes, each portrait in this series is based on a contemporary photograph which has been meticulously prepared - by means of complex image processing techniques - as a banknote portrait.

banknote_widget_series_8_design_principle_denomination_100_back.n.jpg + + +
  • 'Lotar II' (1964)

    This bronze bust shows Giacometti's fascination with surfaces. They underwent a stark transformation under his fingers and modelling knife, giving many of his figures the appearance of bare rock. The unevenness of the texture creates an intensive play of light and shade.

  • 'Homme qui marche I' (1960)

    The walking man - shown here from four different perspectives - is one of Giacometti's best known figures. In it, the artist has captured a physical movement. For Giacometti, the natural equilibrium of the stride symbolises man's own life force.

  • Time-space relationship

    This sketch stems from Giacometti's 1946 memoir: 'Le Rêve, le Sphinx et la mort de T.' Because the linear narrative style was inadequate to express his experience, Giacometti tried a sculptural solution: time is represented as a horizontal disc, the individual segments stand for various events. The panels at the edge tell the relevant stories.

Your settings

Required: These cookies (e.g. for storing your IP address) cannot be rejected as they are necessary to ensure the operation of the website. These data are not evaluated further.
Analytics: If you consent to this category, data such as IP address, location, device information, browser version and site visitor behaviour will be collected. These data are evaluated for the SNB's internal purposes and are kept for two years.
Third-party: If you consent to this category, third-party services (used, for example, to add social multimedia content to the SNB's website) will be activated which collect personal data, process these data, disclose them abroad - worldwide - and place cookies. The relevant data protection regulations are linked in the 'Privacy statement for the website of the Swiss National Bank'.

Choose your preferred settings:

This website uses cookies, analytics tools and other technologies to provide requested features, content and services, to personalise the content shown, to provide links to social media, and to analyse the use of the website in anonymised form for the purposes of improving usability. Personal data are also disclosed abroad - worldwide - to video service providers and the analytics tools of these providers are used. More information is available under 'Manage settings'.