Old Israeli shekel

Old Israeli shekel
שקל  (Hebrew) شيقل  (Arabic)
Central bank	Bank of Israel
Website	www.boi.org.il
User(s)	Israel
Subunit
1/100	new agora
Symbol
Plural	shekalim
new agora	new agorot
Coins	1, 5, 10 new agorot, ½, 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 shekalim
Banknotes	1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000 shekalim

1 old Israeli shekel coin

The old shekel, known at the time as simply shekel (Hebrew: שקל‎, plural שקלים shekalim; Arabic: شيقل‎‎ šīqal) was the currency of the State of Israel between 24 February 1980 and 31 December 1985 until replaced by the Israeli new shekel at a ratio of 1000:1 on 1 January 1986. The old shekel was short-lived due to the high rates of inflation in Israel at the time. The old shekel was subdivided into 100 new agorot (אגורות חדשות). The shekel sign was . The Israeli lira was used until 24 February 1980.

History

In 1980 the shekel replaced the lira at a rate of 1 shekel = 10 lira. After suffering from high inflation, the shekel was replaced by the new shekel in a process started in September 1985 at a rate of 1 new shekel = 1000 old shekalim. The old Israeli shekels, both coins and printed banknotes, have long since been out of circulation and are no longer regarded as legal tender by the Bank of Israel.

Coins

In 1980, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, and 10 new agorot and ½ shekel. 1 shekel coins were introduced in 1981, followed by 5 and 10 shekels pieces in 1982.

Banknotes

In 1980, banknotes were issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 50 shekels, similar to banknotes issued in denominations of 10, 50, 100 and 500 lira.

Between 1980 and 1985 were issued values of 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000 shekel, and the banknotes from the value of 500 shekel had their standardized size 138 x 76 mm.

See also

• Bank of Israel
• Economy of Israel

External links

• Bank of Israel catalog of Israeli currency since 1948