The Vreneli belonged to my grandfather. He received it from his former co-workers for his 90th birthday.
I received it from my great-grandmother’s partner when I turned one in 1992.
I received it from my great-aunt in celebration of my birth in 1993.
I received it from my godfather for my christening in 1965.
I received it from my grandmother for Christmas in 2009.
I received it from my grandmother for my 18th birthday in 2012.
I received it from my great grandfather for my 5th birthday in 1989.
I received it from my in-laws for my naturalisation and my 40th birthday in 2003.
I received it from my great-grandfather for my 5th birthday in 2000.
I received it from my grandparents for my 13th birthday in 2002.
I received it from my grandparents to celebrate my birth in 1991.
I received it from my godmother for my First Communion 1973.
My father received it for his 16th birthday in 1972.
I received it from my godfather for my 16th birthday in 1977.
My cousins, my siblings and I received it from my grandmother at Easter in 2009.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN (2019)
The project Silence Is Golden investigates the faith of Nazi gold sold to Switzerland during the close economic collaboration between the Swiss National Bank and the German Reichsbank during the Second World War.
Switzerland was the primary hub for the Nazis to exchange gold for hard currencies to buy goods for their warfare. Some of this gold had a precarious provenance: it was composed of the remelted property of prisoners from concentration camps, known as ‘victim gold’. Documents show that in 1943, the Swiss National Bank had the suspicion that the German gold came from Nazi-occupied territories and was being confiscated by the Reichsbank in gross violation of international law. Nevertheless, the Swiss National Bank continued to accept gold until 1945.
After the war, the Swiss National Bank supplied the Swissmint with German gold that had been acquired during the war for the minting of an iconic Swiss gold coin: the ‘Vreneli’. This coin is often given as a gift for special occasions such as baptisms or significant birthdays. The possibility that these gold coins contain victim gold was barely addressed in public, or, on the few occasions it was acknowledged, strongly denied by Swiss politicians. By withholding this information, the buyers of ‘Vreneli’ minted in post-war years are implicated in the morally questionable financial cooperation between the Swiss National Bank and the Nazis.
This video would have to run for 27 days, 14 hours, 2 minutes, and 13 seconds in order to show the 28.6 million Vreneli that were minted in post-war years and could thus potentially include victim gold.
E = essais/tests
* Year „L 1935"
(L = lingot = bullion)
Years of issue:
1945: 3,500,000 coins
1946: 7,108,813 coins
1947: 9,400,000 coins