FREE: 30 used stamps from Switzerland

What does Helvetia mean?
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http://www.stamp-collecting-world.com/swissstamps_helvetia.h
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Everyone has seen Swiss stamps with the legend HELVETIA on them. The same is true for Swiss coins. Most people know that this name represents Switzerland. Switzerland is a multi-lingual, multi-cultural confederation, with beginnings dating back to the year 1291.

The languages spoken by the Swiss people are German, French, Italian, and to some extent, Romanish. The name of the country in these languages is "Schweiz" (German), "Suisse" (French), "Svizzera" (Italian), and "Svizra" (Romanish).

Hey, wait! Where is "Switzerland"? "Switzerland" is a 16th Century Anglicized version of the German word "Schweiz" ... a person from Schweiz would thus be called a "Schweizer", and the land that they come from would be called similarly "Schweizerland". Well ... that makes sense!

By the same analogy, I would imagine that the English word "Swiss", used to describe anyone or anything from Switzerland, is derived from the French word "Suisse".

OK, we know all the modern names for Switzerland. But what of Swiss stamps and coins? What then is "Helvetia"? Helvetia is actually the REAL LATIN language name of the country, given to it in ancient times.

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