Israeli Lira - History

History

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 Palestinian 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 Palestinian 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 lira 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 lira into a Hebrew name, sheqel (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 modern sheqel at a rate of 1 sheqel = 10 lirot.