Swiss Confederation, 20 Francs (Vreneli) 1904

For a long time, Swiss money bore the lansquenet who had fought for liberty at Morgarten, Sempach or Murten. However, towards the end of the 19th century, the martial element on coins was more and more displaced. Consequently a new coin image had to be found. After some seesaw – the jury judged the preliminary design as either "too frivol," "too youthful," "too immature" or "too less motherly" – the Helvetia of the artist Fritz Landry from Neuchâtel was accepted as a new motif for Swiss coins.

Initially, the question about the identity of Helvetia's model did not arise. But after the Second World War (1939-1945) two sons claimed this honor for their late mothers. Accordingly the model either ought to have been Françoise Kramer-Egli from Neuchâtel or Rosa Tännler from Gadmen in Oberhasli. It was most likely Rosa Tännler who acted as a model, for Fritz Landry had written in a letter to the Bundesrat (the Federal Council of Switzerland), that he had studied «un type de femme très pure du Hasli» (a woman very pure from Hasli) for his sketch.