Did you know that the largest rifle shooting competition in the world is held every year in Switzerland with over 200,000 in attendance? Originating in the 15th Century, the highly anticipated Swiss Schützenfest (marksmen’s festival) is a traditional festival featuring a target shooting competition in which contestants compete based on their shooting abilities, and the winner of the competition is celebrated as the Schützenkönig ("king of marksmen") until the next year's competition.

There are two distinct periods to consider when collecting Shooting Festival commemoratives. The first run is from 1842 to 1939, 1842 being the first year they began minting commemorative shooting thalers. These coins are the equivalent in size and metal content to their legal tender counterpart. As such, these coins were circulated outside the festivals, although technically, they are medals. The second period, the modern commemoratives, runs from 1984 to date. This is the only ongoing modern coin issue to celebrate marksmanship, gun safety, and education.

For the first time in history, a modern numismatic rarity occurred, as the annual Shooting Festival originally scheduled in 2020 for Lucerne, was postponed to 2021. As a result, the Lucerne festival has been commemorated by two consecutive issues, the 2nd of which (2021) is the first to feature two dates on the obverse! The 2021 obverse design bears a classic rendition of the allegorical goddess Helvetia. The reverse departs from the usual crossed rifle motif and instead shows the iconic Lion of Lucerne, a rock carving in the medieval part of the city dating to 1821 with the denomination displayed below it.

This 2021 Swiss Shooting Festival Commemorative has been certified PF69 Ultra Cameo by NGC. Each coin weighs 25g of .900 silver and has a denomination of 50 Francs. Both the 2020 and 2021 commemoratives were limited to impressively low mintages of just 1000 pieces! In addition, only 289 .

PRODUCT SPECIFICS

Year of Issue 2021

Mint B.H. Mayer

Type Swiss Shooting Festival Commemorative

Strike Type Proof

Certification NGC

Grade PF69 UCAM

NGC Population 289

Composition Silver

Purity 0.900

Weight 25g

Denomination 50 Francs