Federer is 1st living person to be celebrated on Swiss coins

Bern: Switzerland's 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer will become the first living person to be celebrated on a coin in the country.

On Sunday, Swissmint confirmed that it is celebrating Federer with a 20-franc silver coin, which will have an issue date of January 23, 2020. It plans to release a second coin with a different design – the "Roger Federer" 50-franc gold coin – in May.

In a statement, the government said Federer is the best-known Swiss person both on and off the court. In addition to his countless tennis records, including the most Grand Slam men's singles titles, he also runs a charitable foundation for children in southern Africa and was the first Swiss UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Above all, Swissmint writes, Federer is "the perfect ambassador for Switzerland. He has a unique way of embodying likeability, down-to-earthness, success and eloquence".

Anticipating high demand for the coin, Swissmint has launched for the first time a pre-sale of an "uncirculated quality" of the coin.