Five Sheqalim - Chaim Wiezmann

Five Sheqalim - Chaim Weizmann / Damascus Gate
Sheqel Series
Silver/999, 5 grams

On the 4th of June 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 notes 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 has the greatest number of banknotes of different denominations. This was due to the inflation that continued through the 1980s. 

Details taken from "Banknotes and Coins of Israel 1927-2006", published by the Bank of Israel (edited by Yigal Arkin), by courtesy, the Bank of Israel.

Israel Coins and Medals Corp. is proud to present this unique series, which is the Eighth in a number of series representing the banknotes that were in use in the State of Israel over the years. Each of the banknotes in this exciting series has been produced by innovative technology, enabling production of a paper-thin, flexible pure silver note with a 5-gram weight.

Limited Edition - 1,800 only