Israeli pound
The Israeli pound (Hebrew: לירה ישראלית Lira Yisra'elit, Arabic: جنيه إسرائيلي Junayh ʾIsrāʾīlī) or Israeli lira was the currency of the State of Israel from 9 June 1952 until 23 February 1980. Its symbol was "I£". The Israeli pound replaced the Palestine pound and was also pegged to the pound sterling at par. It was replaced by the shekel on 24 February 1980, at the rate of 1 shekel = 10 Israeli pounds, which was in turn replaced by the new shekel in 1985.
| Israeli pound | |
|---|---|
| לירה ישראלית (in Hebrew) جنيه إسرائيلي (in Arabic) | |
 I£500 note (obverse and reverse) issued in 1975 | |
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | ILP |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1/1000 | mil (1951–1952) pruta (1952–1960) |
| 1/100 | agora (1960–1980) |
| Plural | pounds (לירות lirot) |
| mil (1951–1952) pruta (1952–1960) | prutot (פרוטות) |
| agora (1960–1980) | agorot (אגורות) |
| Symbol | ל"י or I£ |
| Banknotes | I£5, I£10, I£50, I£100, I£500 |
| Coins | 1, 5, 10, 25 agorot, I£1⁄2, I£1, I£5 |
| Demographics | |
| Replaced by | Old Israeli shekel |
| User(s) |  Israel (1952–1980) |
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Bank Leumi (1952–1955) Bank of Israel (1955–1980) |
| Valuation | |
| Pegged with | British pounds (1952–1954) |
| Pegged by | I£1:£1 |
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |
Before the new currency was brought in, the Anglo-Palestine Bank issued banknotes denominated in Palestine pounds. They were in Hebrew לירה א״י (lira E.Y. i.e. lira Eretz-Yisraelit) and Arabic junayh filisṭīnī (جنيه فلسطيني).[1]
On 1 May 1951, all the assets and liabilities of the Anglo Palestine Bank were transferred to a new company called Bank Leumi Le-Yisrael (Israel National Bank) and the currency name became: lira yisraelit (לירה ישראלית) in Hebrew, junayh ʾisrāʾīlī in Arabic, and Israel pound in English.[2] The new currency was issued in 1952, and entered circulation on June 9. From 1955, after the Bank of Israel was established and took over the duty of issuing banknotes, only the Hebrew name was used.[3]