History of Switzerland
Switzerland's most important exports during the war were precision machine tools, watches, jewel bearings (used in bombsights), electricity, and dairy products. During World War Two, the Swiss franc was the only remaining major freely convertible currency in the world, and both the Allies and the Germans sold large amounts of gold to the Swiss National Bank. Between 1940 and 1945, the German Reichsbank sold 1.3 billion francs worth of gold to Swiss Banks in exchange for Swiss francs and other foreign currency.
Coins of the Swiss franc
Since 2004, moreover, the existing pure nickel 20 centime coins of the years 1881–1938 have been withdrawn from circulation because machines cannot detect them. Today, all the coins except the 5 centime coin (aluminum-bronze since 1981) are in a copper-nickel (cupronickel) alloy. Seven coins (1995) are currently in circulation: