96,000 standard-quality pieces: the smallest mintage among Switzerland’s bimetallic 5 francs of 1999-2003. The 2003 coin is dedicated to Chalandamarz, the festival with which children in Graubünden see off the winter.

The artist Gian Vonzun depicted four boys in traditional costume and caps dancing along with large bells; a garland of flowers frames both sides, and the inscription reads «CHALANDAMARZ». The other side carries the denomination, the date, the «B» of the Bern mint and the legend «CONFOEDERATIO HELVETICA».

The festival is held on 1 March in the Romansh- and Italian-speaking valleys of Graubünden, such as the Engadine, Val Müstair and Poschiavo. Boys go round the village ringing bells and singing at the houses to drive away the evil spirits of winter and wake the good spirits of spring; the largest bells reach half a metre across. The name itself comes from the Latin «Calendae Martis», the calends of March.

The procession is led by the older boys, the «Patruns». The bells come in six kinds, from small ones to the huge «Maruns», and in the evening the festival continues with whip-cracking.

AU-UNC grade: the coin has not circulated or shows only the faintest rub on the highest points, with nearly full lustre. In the series of Swiss festivals, this is the piece with the lowest mintage.

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