Swissmint
Encyclopedia
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
of the Swiss Confederation
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It is responsible for manufacturing Swiss franc
Swiss franc
The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...
coins
COinS
ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...
, both of the currency and bullion variety. Apart from making coins for the government, Swissmint also manufactures medals and commemorative coins for private customers.
Swissmint is an agency of the Swiss federal government
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
. It is part of the Federal Finance Administration, which in turn belongs to the Federal Department of Finance
Federal Department of Finance
The Federal Department of Finance ; ; ) is one of the seven departments of the Swiss federal government. The department is headquartered in Bern and is headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland's finance minister...
. Since 1998, the Official Mint of the Confederation operates as an independent business unit under the name Swissmint.
As of 2005, Swissmint has 21 employees.
The mint's building is a heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
. It was built in 1903–06 based on designs by Theodor Gohl to replace an older building at the Gerberngraben. The sober, industrial-style yellow brick building is fronted by a Neo-Renaissance
Neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival is an all-encompassing designation that covers many 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Grecian nor Gothic but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes...
façade in marble and sandstone.
See also
- Swiss National BankSwiss National BankThe Swiss National Bank is the central bank of Switzerland. It is responsible for Swiss monetary policy and for issuing Swiss franc banknotes.The names of the institution in the four official languages of the country are: ; ; ; ....
, the independent institution responsible for Swiss banknotes and monetary policyMonetary policyMonetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...
.