Here is the back and front of a Swiss 20 Franc Note. It has a picture of Arthur Honneger, a famous 20th century Swiss composer. I am not sure how well it showed up in the picture, but on the front is a picture of a rather young (and dashing I might add) Arthur Honneger and a more middle aged picture of him in the upper left hand corner. On the back you can see some musical notes, the piston valves of a trumpet, and the wheel of a train (no doubt meant to represent his famous orchestral composition "Pacific 231"). The Swiss seem to do this on their currency. The 10 Franc note has Le Corbusier - the architect - on it. On each Swiss franc note are the four official languages of Switzerland: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. "Romansh" is supposed to be the closest living language to Latin, but it looks like an odd combination of Spanish and German. "Achtung, amigos!" Well, I will trust the linguists on this one and perhaps get a chance to hear it spoken although I will be in the northern, German-speaking section of Switzerland.
Some may be wondering why Switzerland does not use the Euro? Remember those famous "Swiss bank accounts" where people can stash millions with no questions asked? If you didn't know, a Swiss bank account earns 'negative interest.' This means that not only does the bank get the use of the money in the way normal banks do, the customer pays for the priviledge of the "no questions asked (sometimes totally anonymous, merely numbered) bank accounts." In order to join the 'euro zone' the Swiss would have to follow European banking regulations. This would mean the effective end of the traditional Swiss banking industry. And they make such beautiful money. I've seen the Euro. Very quotidian.
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