2115) The "Sheqel Series of Banknotes", Israel: Israel Coins and Medals Corporation has issued the "8TH SERIES" Silver replicas of Original Sheqel Banknote Series, which replaced the "Lira Series" in 02/1980:
Israel Coins and Medals Corp. (ICMC) has brought out the eighth of several series representing the historical banknotes, which were once in circulation in the State of Israel.
This interesting series consists of flexible, paper-thin 5 gram pure silver sheets, produced by an innovative manufacturing technique. Each of the banknotes in this interesting series has been produced by innovative technology, enabling production of a paper-thin, flexible pure silver note with a 5-gram weight.
The "Sheqel Series" replaces the "Lira Series" - the necessity:
On the 04.06.1969, the Knesset passed a law to replace the "Lira" with the "Sheqel" because the Lira, as the unit of currency, was derived from the "Palestine Lira" of the British Mandate Period, and the term "Lira" was also used as a unit of currency in other countries.
The "Sheqel" appears in the Bible as a unit of weight used during the period of the Second Temple.
The Sheqel coin struck during the War of the Jews against the Romans replaced the "Tzuri Sheqel", (the Sheqel that had been used for the traditional half-Sheqel donation to the Second Temple).
However, because conditions prevailing in the 1960s were not deemed ripe for change, implementation of the law was postponed to a later date.
In May 1978, the time had come to implement the new law and to replace the "Lira" with the "Sheqel".
The government authorized a new Series of Banknotes - the Sheqel Series - that was similar in design to the Lira series, however, one zero was dropped from the end of each denomination.
Thus, 10 Lirot became 1 Sheqel, 50 Lirot became 5 Sheqalim, 100 Lirot became 10 Sheqalim and 500 Lirot became 50 Sheqalim. The 5-Lirot banknote became a half-Sheqel coin.
In February 1980 the first Sheqel series was put into circulation.
However, as inflation continued to spin out of control and the currency was swiftly losing its value, it was necessary to issue banknotes of higher denominations.
By 1985, banknotes with denominations of 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 Sheqalim had been issued.
The additional banknotes from the 500 Sheqalim in this series were of a uniform size, which meant a reduction in the cost of production.
On the Back of the Banknotes up to 50 Sheqalim, a "binary code" was imprinted in invisible ink, for the purpose of automatic recognition.
These banknotes, too, incorporated new safeguards, such as "see - through" elements.
Of all the series to date, the "Sheqel Series" had the greatest number of banknotes of different denominations. This was due to the inflation that continued through the 1980s.
The specifications:
- Each banknote replica in the series is made of 5 grams of .999 Fineness Silver.
- The set weighs (09 x 0.45) grams of .999 Fineness Silver.
- The Dimensions of each Banknote Silver Replica are: 150.00 mm x 70.00 mm
- The Maximum Mintage of each Banknote replica: 1800
The Silver Replicas:
The Fronts of all nine Banknote denominations - 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 Sheqels
The Backs of all the Nine Denominations issued in the Sheqel Series
On the Front of the One Sheqel Banknote is depicted a portrait of Moses Montefiore.
Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, FRS (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London.
Born to an Italian-Jewish family, he donated large sums of money to promote industry, business, economic development, education and health among the Jewish community in the Levant, including the founding of Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first settlement outside Jerusalem's walled city.
As President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, his correspondence with the British consul in Damascus, Charles Henry Churchill, in 1841–42 is seen as pivotal to the development of Proto-Zionism.
On the Back the One Sheqel Banknote is depicted the Jaffa Gate - one of the gates of the old City of Jerusalem.
On the Front of the 5 Sheqalim Banknote is seen a portrait of Chaim Weizmann.
Chaim Azriel Weizmann (27.11.1874 – 09.11.1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israeli statesman who served as president of the Zionist Organization and later as the first president of Israel. He was elected on 16 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952. It was Weizmann who convinced the United States government to recognize the newly formed state of Israel.
On the Back of the 5 Sheqalim Banknote is seen Damascus Gate - one of the gates of the old Coty of Jerusalem
On the Front of the 10 Sheqalim Banknote is seen a portrait of Theodor Herzl.
Theodor Herzl (02.05.1860 – 03.07.1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state.
Although he passed away before Israel's establishment, he is known as "Visionary of the State". Herzl is specifically mentioned in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and is officially referred to as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State".
On the Back of the 10 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted the Zion Gate - one of the Gates of the old City of Jerusalem.
On the Front of the 50 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted David Ben Gurion.
David Ben-Gurion (16.10.1886 – 01.12.1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first Prime Minister of Israel.
He become the preeminent leader of the Jewish community in British-ruled Mandatory Palestine from 1935 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which he led until 1963 with a short break in 1954–55.
He was a prominent Zionist leader and executive head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946. As head of the Jewish Agency from 1935, and later president of the Jewish Agency Executive, he was the de-facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, and largely led its struggle for an independent Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine.
On 14.05.1948, he formally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, and was the first to sign the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which he had helped to write.
Ben-Gurion led Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and united the various Jewish militias into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Subsequently, he became known as "Israel's founding father".
On the Back of the 50 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted the Golden Gate of the old City of Jerusalem.
On the Front of the 100 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted a portrait of Ze'ev Jabotinsky.
Ze'ev Jabotinsky MBE (17.10.1880 - 03.08.1940) was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leader, author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in Odessa.
With Joseph Trumpeldor, he co-founded the Jewish Legion of the British army in World War I. Later he established several Jewish organizations in Palestine, including Betar, Hatzohar, and the Irgun.
His influence on Israeli politics is profound through his closest protégé Menachem Begin's administration (1977–1983), consolidating the domination of Israeli politics by the right-wing Likud party; and through the administrations (1996–1999, 2009–2021) of Likud's leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the son of his former personal secretary and historian, Benzion Netanyahu.
On the Back of the 100 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted the Herod's Gate - one of the Gates of the old city of Jerusalem.
On the Front of the 500 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted Baron Binyamin de Rothschild.
Benjamin de Rothschild (30.07.1963 – 15.01.2021) was a French banker, having been owner of the Edmond de Rothschild Group from 1997. His father was from a Jewish family and his mother converted to Judaism. He was one of the richest members of the Rothschild family having businesses spanning Banking, Sailing (Yachts), Vineyards and farms.
On the Back of the 500 Sheqalim Banknote is seen a cluster/bunch of grapes, symbolising his vast Vineyards/wine businesses.
On the Front of the 1,000 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted Maimonides the Rambam.
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), also known as "Maimonides" or by the acronym "Rambam" was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin.
Born in Córdoba, Almoravid Empire (present-day Spain) in 1138, he worked as a rabbi, physician and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt.
During his lifetime, most Jews greeted Maimonides' writings on Jewish law and ethics with acclaim and gratitude, even as far away as Iraq and Yemen. Maimonides rose to become the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt.
He was acknowledged as one of the foremost rabbinic decisors and philosophers in Jewish history, and his copious work comprises a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship.
On the Back of the 1,000 Sheqalim Banknote is depicted a stylised view of the Tiberias River.
On the Front of the 5,000 Sheqel Banknote is seen a portrait of Levi Eshkol Shkolnik.
Levi Eshkol (25.10.1895 – 26.02.1969) was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous senior roles, including Minister of Defense (1963–1967) and Minister of Finance (1952–1963).
Eshkol was first appointed as Prime Minister following the resignation of David Ben-Gurion. He then led the party in the elections to the Sixth Knesset (1965) and won, remaining in office for six consecutive years.
Shortly after taking office, he made several significant changes, among them the annulment of military rule over Israeli Arabs and a successful journey to the United States, being the first Israeli leader to be formally invited to the White House. His relations with American President Lyndon B. Johnson greatly affected Israel–United States relations and later on the Six-Day War.
Eshkol was active in the Zionist movement from a young age, immigrating to Ottoman Palestine in 1914 and working in agriculture. He was among the founders of the major institutions of the Yishuv, most importantly the Histadrut and Haganah.
He led the Israeli government during and after the Six-Day War and was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.
On the Back of the 5,000 Sheqel Banknote is seen a pipe carrying water symbolising how Israel turned Deserts into arid land suitable for agriculture.
On the Front of the 10,000 Sheqalim Banknote is seen a portrait of Golda Meir.
Golda Meir (03.05.1898 – 08.12.1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and kibbutznikit who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel.
Born in Kyiv, she emigrated to the United States as a child with her family in 1906, and was educated there, becoming a teacher. After getting married, she and her husband emigrated to then Palestine in 1921, settling on a kibbutz.
She was elected prime minister of Israel on 17.03.1969, after serving as labour minister and foreign minister.
The world's fourth and Israel's only woman to hold the office of prime minister, and the first in any country in the Middle East, she has been described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics. She was often portrayed as the "strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people."
Meir was Prime Minister during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Israel was caught off guard and suffered severe losses in the first days of the war, before recovering and defeating the invading armies of Syria and Egypt.
On the Back of the 10,000 Sheqalim Banknote is seen a picture of Golda Meir among a gathering of the Moscow Synagogue.
Other interesting posts from Israel:
Biblical Art Commemorative Coin Series:
"Jerusalem of Gold - Gold Bullion Coin Series:
Israel Independence Day - "Endangered Animals in Israel" Coin Series:
Birds of Israel Coin Series:
"Views of Jerusalem" Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Series:
For some other interesting posts from Italy/The Vatican, please visit the following links:
Some other interesting links to posts on this blog on Currencies of the Middle-East:
Some other interesting posts from the African Continent on this blog:
Divine Comedy Coin Series - Republic of Cameroon:
Santosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"Thanks Rajeev for sharing this interesting informative post."
Thank you, Khanna sahab.
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