“In Valais everyone knows this story,” said David Crettenand, a member of the committee that established the Farinet currency. In 1880, at the age of 35, Farinet was finally cornered by police in a gorge above the medieval Valais village of Saillon where he fell, jumped or was possibly killed – a mysterious death that only added to the intrigue of his life. In doing so, he not only evaded capture for many years but also liberated local people from debt, something that later earned him the nickname ‘Robin Hood of the Alps’. To court favour with the poverty-stricken locals, he was generous with his forged currency, in return gaining food, shelter and protection from the authorities who pursued him. Tourists may not realise its significance, but locals know that all those popular nightspots are so called because their namesake, Joseph-Samuel Farinet, probably would have enjoyed dancing on tables himself.Ī roguish charmer, a lover of wine and women and an escaped convict, Farinet was a 19th-Century counterfeiter and a legend in these parts, even if the myth that now surrounds him is more colourful than the reality.Īfter fleeing from authorities in his native Italy where he was wanted on counterfeit charges, Farinet arrived in the Valais in 1869 and once again began minting fake money – specifically, 20 centime coins dated 1850. The name Farinet is common in Valais towns: it’s a restaurant in Crans-Montana, a pub in Champéry, and an après-ski bar in Verbier where skiers dance on tables in their thermals. It’s a local initiative, backed by local people, that aims to boost the local economy, so it is apt that it’s been given a name with such local meaning: Farinet. Its banknotes are worth the same as Swiss francs – the country’s official currency – but can only be spent in participating businesses in the Valais, which so far includes more than 150 restaurants, artisans, farm shops and wineries. Like the UK’s Bristol pound and the the Franco-Spanish Basque region's Eusko, it’s a complementary rather than replacement currency. In May 2017, a group of Valais residents launched a new regional currency.
And so it’s perhaps no surprise that they are now embracing a home-grown way to buy them. The people in the Swiss canton of Valais are rightly proud of their home-grown products. Terraced vineyards carpeted the slopes, while fruit trees covered the valley floor: apple, pear and especially apricot, from which the area makes its famous schnapps, Abricotine. As my train travelled through the mountainous Rhône Valley in southern Switzerland, it was plain to see what this region is known for.
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