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.
Nominal value of currency doesn’t matter that much.
Important: I don’t mean the changes in that value. They matter a lot.
When I was in Switzerland everything seemed stupid expensive. $15 for a Starbucks coffee. $40 for a hamburger. This was like 10 years ago, so probably even more now.
I was in Switzerland for 2 last weeks. It’s stupidly cheap there, when you factor the income of the swiss people.
The median income in Switzerland is 1,5 times that of the US, almost 2 times more than Germany and 4,5 times of Poland (the country I come from).
Yes, Switzerland is 2-3 times more expensive than Poland, but I’d take this deal every day of the week.