Israeli pound

Israeli pound
לירה ישראלית (Hebrew) ليرة إسرائيلية (Arabic)
I£500 note (observe and reverse) issued in 1975
ISO 4217
Code	ILP
Denominations
Subunit
1/1000	pruta (1950–1960)
1/100	agora (1960–1980)
Plural	pounds (לירות lirot)
pruta (1950–1960)	agorot (אגורות)
agora (1960–1980)	prutot (פרוטות)
Symbol	ל"י or I£
Banknotes	I£5, I£10, I£50, I£100, I£500
Coins	1, 5, 10, 25 agorot, I£1/2, I£1, I£5
Demographics
User(s)	Israel (1952-1980)
Issuance
Central bank	Bank Leumi (1952-1955) Bank of Israel (1955-1980)
Valuation
Pegged with	British pounds (1952-1954)
Pegged by	I£1:£1
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The Israeli pound (Hebrew: לירה ישראלית‎‎ Lira Yisr'elit, Arabic: ليرة إسرائيلية‎‎) or Israeli lira was the currency of the State of Israel from June 1952 until 23 February 1980, when it was replaced with the shekel on 24 February 1980, which was again replaced with the New Shekel in 1985.

Until 1952, the name used on the notes of the Anglo-Palestine Bank was Palestine pound, in Hebrew לירה א"י (lira E.Y. i.e. lira Eretz-Yisraelit). In Arabic, the name was given as junayh filisţīnī (جنيه فلسطيني).^[1]

In 1952, the Anglo-Palestine Bank changed its name to Bank Leumi Le-Yisrael (Israel National Bank) and the currency name became: lira yisraelit (לירה ישראלית) in Hebrew, junayh isrāīlī in Arabic, and Israel pound in English.^[2] From 1955, after the Bank of Israel was established and took over the duty of issuing banknotes, only the Hebrew name was used, along with the symbol "I£".^[3]

History

Palestine pound note, 1929

The British Mandate of Palestine, which administered the territory now known as Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza prior to May 15, 1948, issued the Palestine pound, a currency equal in value and pegged to the UK Pound, which was divided into 1000 Mils. Banknotes in circulation were issued by the Palestine Currency Board, which was subject to the British Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Israel inherited the Palestine pound but, shortly after the establishment of the state, new banknotes were issued by the London-based Anglo-Palestine bank of the Zionist movement. The new coins were the first to bear the new state's name, while the banknotes said "The Anglo-Palestine Bank Limited". While the first coins minted by Israel still bore the name "mil", the next ones bore the Hebrew name prutah (Hebrew: פרוטה‎‎). A second series of banknotes was issued after the Anglo-Palestine Bank moved its headquarters to Tel Aviv and changed its name to Bank Leumi (Hebrew: בנק לאומי‎‎ "National Bank"). The pegging to the UK Pound was abolished on January 1, 1954, and in 1960, the sub-division of the pound was changed from 1000 prutot to 100 agorot (singular agora Hebrew: אגורה ,אגורות‎‎).

During the 1960s, a debate over the non-Hebrew name of the Israeli currency resulted in a law ordering the Minister of Finance to change the name pound into a Hebrew name, Shekel (שקל). The law allowed the minister to decide on a proper date for the change. The law did not come into effect until February 1980, when the Israeli government decided to change the monetary system and introduce the shekel at a rate of 1 shekel = 10 lirot.

Coins

Israel's first coins were aluminium 25 mil pieces, dated 1948 and 1949, which were issued in 1949 before the adoption of the pruta. Later in 1949, coins were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 prutah. The coins were conceived, in part, by Israeli graphic designer Otte Wallish.

In 1960, coins were issued denominated in agora. There were 1, 5, 10 and 25 agorot pieces. In 1963, 1/2 and 1 pound coins were introduced, followed by 5 lirot coins in 1978.

Banknotes

In 1948, the government issued fractional notes for 50 and 100 mils. The Anglo-Palestine Bank issued banknotes for 500 mils, 1, 5, 10 and 50 lirot (pounds) between 1948 and 1951. In 1952, the government issued a second series of fractional notes for 50 and 100 prutah with 250 prutah notes added in 1953. Also in 1952, the "Bank Leumi Le-Israel" took over paper money production and issued the same denominations as the Anglo-Palestine Bank except that the 500 mils was replaced by a 500 prutah note.

The Bank of Israel began note production in 1955, also issuing notes for 500 pruta, 1, 5, 10 and 50 lirot. In 1968, 100 lirot notes were introduced, followed by 500 lirot notes in 1975.

Bank Leumi Series (1952)

Value	Size	Color	Issued	Withdrawn
500 prutot	148X72 mm	Olive green - blue	9 June 1952	7 February 1961
1 pound	150X75 mm	Green-Pink
5 pounds	155X80 mm	Red-brown
10 pounds	155X80 mm	Gray-pink
50 pounds	160X85 mm	Brown-green

First Series of the Pound (1955)

Value	Size	Color	Observe	Reverse	Issue	Withdraw
500p	130X72 mm	red	Bar'am National Park	Abstract painting	4 August 1955	31 March 1984
I£1	135X72 mm	blue	View of Upper Galilee	Abstract painting	27 October 1955
I£5	140X78 mm	brown	Negev landscape, a settlement and farm equipment	Abstract painting	27 October 1955
I£10	150X82 mm	green	Valley View and cultivated fields	Abstract painting	4 August 1955
I£50	160X87 mm	blue	Road to Jerusalem	Abstract painting	19 September 1957

Second Series of the Pound (1959)

Value	Size	Color	Observe	Reverse	Issue	Withdraw
I£1/2	130X70 mm	green	A Nahal with a basket of oranges	Tombs of the Sanhedrin	15 October 1959	31 March 1984
I£1	135X75 mm	blue	A fisherman, a bay in background	Mosaic art in Isfiya
I£5	140X78 mm	brown	Worker holding a hammer on a background plant	Figure stamp featuring a roaring lion, which is located in Tel Megiddo
I£10	150X82 mm	purple	A scientist in a laboratory	Isaiah scroll, a section of the Dead Sea Scrolls
I£50	178X93 mm	brown	Pioneers in an agricultural settlement in the Negev	Menorah from the Maon Synagogue	9 December1960

Third Series of the Pound (1970)

Value	Size	Color	Observe	Reverse	Issue	Withdraw
I£5	150X75 mm	blue	Albert Einstein	Soreq Nuclear Research Center	13 January 1972	31 March 1984
I£10	160X82 mm	Yellow-ivory	Hayim Nahman Bialik	Bialik House	6 August 1970
I£50	170X84 mm	Brown-red	Chaim Weizmann	Knesset	13 January 1972
I£100	180X90 mm	blue	Theodor Herzl	State emblem surrounded by symbols of the tribes of Israel	27 February 1969

Fourth Series of the Pound (1975)

Value	Size	Color	Observe	Reverse	Issue	Withdraw
I£5	128X76 mm	brown	Henrietta Szold with Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus	Lions' Gate	11 March 1976	31 March 1984
I£10	135X76 mm	Pink-Purple	Moses Montefiore with Mishkenot Sha'ananim in background	Jaffa Gate	30 January 1975
I£50	141X76 mm	green	Chaim Weizmann, Weizmann Institute of Science in background	Damascus Gate	26 January 1978
I£100	147X71 mm	blue	Theodor Herzl, entrance to Mount Herzl in background	Zion Gate	14 March 1975
I£500	153X76 mm	Ivory-Brown	David Ben-Gurion at the library in Sde Boker	Golden Gate	26 May 1977

Features for the blind

In the third banknote issuing, released between 1973 and 1975, a feature was added for use in identifying denomination by visually impaired and blind people. A tactile set of dots, with three on the five pound note, two on the 10 pound note, one on the 50 pound note, no dots on the 100 pound note, and a large bar the length of three dots on the 500 pound note.

References

Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.

Footnotes

^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

↑ One Palestine Pound, IL: Bank of Israel, archived from the original on April 27, 2006
↑ One Israeli Pound, IL: Bank of Israel
↑ First Series of the Pound, IL: Bank Le-Israel
↑ One Palestine Pound, IL: Bank of Israel - Anglo Palestine Bank Series
↑ One Israeli Pound, IL: Bank of Israel - Le-Israel Series
↑ First Series of the Pound, IL: Bank of Israel - First Series of the Pound

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Israeli Lira.

Historical currencies of Israel

Year	May 1948–June 1952	June 1952–1960	1960–1980	1980–1985	1985–present
Main unit	Palestine pound	Israeli pound		(Old) Shekel	New shekel
Subunit	1/1000 = mil	1/1000 = pruta	1/100 = agora	1/100 = new agora	1/100 = agora

Currencies named pound or similar

Current	Pound sterling: (Alderney pound • Falkland Islands pound • Gibraltar pound • Guernsey pound • Jersey pound • Manx pound • Saint Helena pound) Egyptian pound Lebanese pound South Sudanese pound Sudanese pound Syrian pound Turkish lira

Local alternative currency	Bristol Pound Brixton Pound Lewes Pound Stroud Pound Totnes Pound

Defunct	Anglo-Saxon pound Australian pound Bahamian pound Bermudian pound Biafran pound British West African pound Canadian pound Connecticut pound Cypriot pound Delaware pound Fijian pound French livre:(Livre parisis • Livre tournois) French colonial livre: (Guadeloupe livre • Haitian livre • New France livre • Saint Lucia livre) Gambian pound Georgia pound Ghanaian pound Irish pound Israeli pound Italian lira Jamaican pound Japanese government-issued Oceanian Pound Libyan pound Lombardo-Venetian pound Luccan pound Luxembourgish livre Malawian pound Maltese pound Maltese lira Maryland pound Massachusetts pound New Brunswick pound New Guinean pound New Hampshire pound New Jersey pound New York pound New Zealand pound Newfoundland pound Nigerian pound North Carolina pound Nova Scotian pound Oceanian pound Ottoman lira Palestine pound Papal lira Parman lira Pennsylvania pound Pound Scots Prince Edward Island pound Rhode Island pound Rhodesian pound Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound Sammarinese lira Sardinian lira Solomon Islands pound South Carolina pound Southern Rhodesian pound South African pound South African Republic pound South West African pound Tongan pound Tuscan pound Vatican lira Virginia pound West Indian pound Western Samoan pound Zambian pound

See also	Dinar Pound sign Troy pound

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