ILS - Israeli New Shekel

The Bank of Israel holds exclusive authority to issue banknotes and coins across the country. Established in December 1954, the central bank assumed note-printing duties from Bank Leumi (formerly the Anglo-Palestine Bank), which had issued currency since the British Mandate era. Israel operates a floating exchange rate regime — the shekel's value adjusts based on market supply and demand, with the central bank maintaining tools for intervention when stability requires it. When sending money to Israel, exchange rates shift daily based on global market dynamics.

The New Israeli Shekel replaced the hyperinflated old shekel on September 4, 1985, at a ratio of 1000:1. Before that, currency chaos had defined the early 1980s — the old shekel (introduced February 1980) replaced the Israeli pound, which itself had served since 1952. From its debut at 3.89 per US dollar in 1980, the old shekel crashed to over 1,200 per dollar by late 1985. The 1985 Economic Stabilization Plan brought inflation under control, and the new prefix (now largely dropped in common usage) marked a monetary reset that has held steady ever since.

Israeli banknotes (the Series C launched 2014–2017) celebrate Hebrew poets rather than political figures — a deliberate cultural choice. The ₪20 features Rachel Bluwstein with her poem Kinneret and an image of the Sea of Galilee. The ₪50 showcases Shaul Tchernichovsky alongside a citrus tree. Leah Goldberg graces the ₪100 with imagery of almond blossoms and gazelles. Nathan Alterman appears on the ₪200 with moonlit flora. Each denomination carries microprinted poetry text — a security feature that doubles as literary homage.

The symbol ₪ combines the first Hebrew letters of shekel (ש) and ẖadash (ח), meaning new — a typographic invention created specifically for this currency. The word shekel itself stretches back millennia: Abraham reportedly paid four hundred shekels of silver for the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron (Genesis 23:15–16). Derived from the Hebrew root ש-ק-ל meaning to weigh, the term originally described a unit of weight (roughly 11 grams) used across ancient Mesopotamian trade networks before becoming a coin denomination.