Vreneli (aka Goldvreneli[1]) is the informal name for a range of legal tender gold coins of the Swiss franc.

The name Vreneli was given to the design of a female head in profile by Neuchâtel medalist Fritz Ulisse Landry.

Although the obverse is the same for the 10, 20 and 100 franc pieces, the reverse of the 10 and 100 are common depicting a radiant Swiss Cross above a branch.

For political reasons[citation needed] the British and the German Empires decided not to follow this direction.

Attempts were even taken to explore the unification of the European currency with the American dollar, which explains the extremely rare U.S. Stella carrying an unusual face value of $4, which contained the same amount of gold as the Swiss 20 francs coins.

From a total of 21 suggestions, a depiction of Helvetia by Neuchâtel artist Fritz Ulysse Landry (1842–1927) won second place.

Landry in a letterof 1895 mentions that he modelled the design on a "very pure type of women of Hasli" (the Oberhasli district of the Bernese Oberland).

The final design was still criticized as still too frivolous for a national representation, but at the same time it was widely popular and given the endearing nickname of Vreneli.

[10] This name, in its diminutive form also used as a pars pro toto for female youths, is historically well-known and traditionally popular in Switzerland.

A 2011 article in Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that part of the gold used for the coinage of Vrenelis originated from the Peruvian Madre de Dios region.

The article drew a connection to the current environmental damage and health issues for the miners reported from the gold mines in the region.