Modern life is a crazy stream of various connections and contacts that appear both between individual individuals and entire states. Due to the fact that these relationships are not always exclusively barter or intangible, the use of various “markers” with which the cost of a service or product is determined is simply necessary. Most likely, you have already guessed that such instruments of mutual settlement are money. Therefore, the topic of this article will be the currency of Israel.
Middle Eastern Religious Tolerance Center
First of all, I want to note that the Jewish state of today is an extremely unusual country. It was a mixture of all religions of the world and there are many attractions. Muslims, Jews, Baha'is, Druze and other representatives of various faiths conduct their services here.
Start
It is extremely important to know - until 1948, Israel as a state simply did not exist on the political map of the world. Accordingly, the currency of Israel simply could not physically be issued earlier.
It is noteworthy that before printing the money of the newly created country, no one had a clear understanding of what to call it, because the name of the new state was not even clearly defined. Because of this, a balanced decision was made, according to which the monetary unit on the bills had the inscription "Palestinian pound" printed in English. But the name of the period of the British mandate was also preserved - “the lira of the Israeli land” (written in Hebrew).
Thus, the new currency of Israel was secretly introduced into the country already in July 1948. On August 17 of the same year, money was recognized as an official means of payment and were put into circulation.
New series of banknotes
In 1951, the money supply of the Mediterranean state was updated. This was due to the fact that the Anglo-Palestinian Bank transferred its assets and liabilities to the National Bank. For this reason, the currency of Israel was called the Israeli lira, and one hundredth of the lira began to be called the "rod." The money itself was very similar to its predecessors, differing only a little in size and color.
The first issue of the new currency occurred in 1955. The current chairman of the country's main bank, David Horowitz, proposed depicting Israeli landscapes on banknotes, which was finally done.
The appearance of agora
In 1959, it was decided to print banknotes that would fundamentally differ from previous versions of state money. In addition, the national currency of Israel at that time was issued not only directly on the territory of the country, but also in printing houses of a number of European countries. Also there was a replacement of the rods on the agora. As a result, one lyre began to equal one hundred agora.
As a result, as history has shown, the Israeli lira has undergone several changes, thanks to which there were third and fourth issues of this currency, which occurred in 1969 and 1975, respectively.
His Majesty Shekel
You already obviously have a question: "So what is the currency in Israel today?" Her name is shekel. As far back as 1969, the Knesset (the country's parliament) decided that Israeli money should bear that name. However, in the end, the release of shekels began only in 1980. This was due to the fact that the law provided for the replacement of banknotes solely on the orders of the Minister of Finance at the right time in his opinion. All bills, starting with 500 shekels, were printed with standard sizes of 138 × 76 mm.
Denomination
In order to facilitate the accounting of finances and the circulation of cash, a denomination was made at the rate of 1000: 1.The name of the currency was left unchanged. A new denomination of 50 shekels appeared. In 1986, banknotes of 20 and 200 shekels were put into circulation.
Updated design and enhanced protection
In 1998, famous Israeli artists developed a new look for banknotes. This money was put into circulation on January 3, 1999.
The central bank of the country a few years ago notified the public about the frequent cases of detection of falsifications of the national currency. In this regard, in 2007, preparations began for printing a new series.
In April 2013, the state government decided to start issuing new type of banknotes. Old money will be in circulation until 2017. In order to provide a higher level of protection for banknotes, they began to produce polymer ones.
Course
The currency of Israel to the ruble today has a ratio of 19 Russian rubles per Israeli shekel. By the way, with the state itself, money can be exchanged almost everywhere: at the airport, in a bank, in a hotel, in a store. It should be noted that banking institutions in Israel operate from Sunday to Thursday, and on the eve of Jewish holidays, banks operate from 8.30 to 12.00. As for how much currency you can bring with you to Israel, the answer here is simple - as much as you can or want. The country does not restrict the import of foreign money.