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Israel
Israeli New Shekel (ILS)
Curiosities about the currency
The shekel or new Israeli shekel (ILS) is the official currency of Israel. It is also used in Palestine alongside the Jordanian dinar. It entered circulation in 1985 and replaced the old shekel. Its symbol is ₪. The entity responsible for its management is the Bank of Israel.
The banknotes in circulation are 20, 50, 100, and 200 ILS. All are paper, except for the new design of the 20 shekels, which is made of polymer. In the year 2000, the production of 1 and 5 ILS banknotes ceased, although they continued to circulate until 2010.
A shekel is divided into 100 agorots (in singular, agora). Currently, there are coins in Israel of 1, 5, and 10 agorots, and also of 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 new shekels. The latter is bimetallic. All have inscriptions in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
On the currencies, the production date is minted according to the Hebrew lunisolar calendar, which begins with the creation of the world. That is why it is common to see that the most recent currencies have been produced in the year 5783 AM.
The new Israeli shekel is not produced in the country. The coins are minted at the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation, while the banknotes are manufactured in Switzerland. This is the reason why they share a colour palette with the banknotes of that latter country.
What do the banknotes/coins look like?
Front part
*The banknotes and coins correspond to the newest issued series and are for reference. Colours may vary and there may be more designs than those shown.
