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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by LtDan@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Despite it being a stronger currency, is it exchangeable in the United States for dollars? Would that mean I'll be getting more in dollars due to that having high value? Also, why is the Swiss Franc more colorful in its appearance while US Dollars look rather bland in comparison? To break down each denomination's value:

CHF ~ in USD
Fr. 1000 $1278
Fr. 200 $255
Fr. 100 $127
Fr. 50 $63
Fr. 20 $25
Fr. 10 $12

Meanwhile, the value of US Dollar is lower in comparison to the Franc:

USD ~ in CHF
$100 Fr. 78.30
$50 Fr. 39.15
$20 Fr. 15.66
$10 Fr. 7.83
$5 Fr. 3.92
$2 Fr. 1.57
$1 Fr. 0.78

The lowest bill denomination is Fr. 10 (or $12) so anything below that is issued in coins. But, the real indicator is the Big Mac Index: for instance, the burger in Swiss McDonalds is Fr. 7.30 ($8) with VAT included while the same thing is $5.79 (before tax) in the USA meaning you have to pay more for the same item.

However the mininum wage in Geneva (with a population bit less than Scotsdale or Boise) alone is Fr. 24.59 ($31.40) per hour, while the minimum wage in let's say Seattle is $20.76 per hour so technically, the Swiss have more money. Just because of their currency's value, it makes US Dollar look cheap.

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[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 9 points 1 week ago

Would that mean I'll be getting more in dollars due to that having high value?

You posted the answer yourself.

Every central bank designs its own bills. The US chose to be boring, bland, and hostile to people with visual impairments. The reason why they won't change that in a hurry is because it would necessitate an expensive switch in vending machines to handle different size bills. They could change the color but greenback is their brand. European currencies have pretty much always had bills of different sizes.

The exchange rate of currencies depend on many things. Prices depend on many things. Comparing Swiss ones with American ones is almost pointless. Switzerland has high VAT rates (high taxes in general) and thus salary levels will be higher as well. Swiss tourist will go nuts spending stateside because everything will just be cheap to them. Because they won't finance social security, universal health care, or a bunker place for every citizen in case of thermonuclear war in the US. But they do in Switzerland.

this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2026
15 points (74.2% liked)

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