Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1735. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $1500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SWITZERLAND, Helvetic Republic (Helvetische Republik). 1798-1803. AV 16 Franken (7.61 gm, 6h). Bern mint. Dated 1800. HELVETISCHE REPUBLIK, B in exergue, Swiss soldier standing facing, holding banner in right hand and left hand on hip / 16 FRANKEN 1800 in three lies across field; all within wreath. Friedberg 281; KM 12. Superb EF. ($1500)

The Helvetian Republic, proclaimed by Napoleon in 1798, was the first centralized government imposed on the Swiss cantons, and its coinage the first national coinage of Switzerland. It also represented the last time Switzerland was under the influence of a foreign power and its last involvement in a war. The canton system was restored in 1803 with Napoleon as mediator, and in 1813, with the withdrawal of French troops, the Swiss Confederation promulgated a policy of perpetual armed neutrality.