The Swiss are rarely late. But a new series of bank notes has been in the making since 2010. The new Swiss franc notes are finally being released, starting with the 50-franc bill rolled out earlier ...

One day an Amsterdam banker, Mynheer Severin, sent to the Bank of France a 1,000-franc note which he had recognized as counterfeit when his Hungarian housemaid, one Vrouw Kovacs, asked him to ...