Israel to Get New Series of Banknotes

[Bimat]

National poets to appear on new series of banknotes

By NADAV SHEMER 
03/10/2011 16:45

Bank of Israel announces new list, including Alterman, Tchernichovsky and Rachel, more than a year after shelving original suggestions.

The faces of four of Israel's most celebrated poets and playwrights have been selected to appear on a new series of banknotes slated for release in the next three years, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer announced on Thursday.

Natan Alterman, Leah Goldberg, Shaul Tchernichovsky and Rachel Sela – better known as Rachel the Poetess – were selected for the list, which was finalized following more than a year of heated debate and which will now be submitted to the government for approval. The faces will appear on new NIS 20, 50, 100 and 200 banknotes.

The Bank of Israel said in a press release that the poets were chosen in the hope that "featuring these personalities on the banknotes will help to instill in the younger generation of Israelis an appreciation of their contribution to Israeli society and to the state."

Fischer made the announcement a day after meeting with the Committee for the Planning of Banknotes, Coins and Commemorative Coins, chaired by retired Judge Yaacov Turkel, to confirm the four selections.

The committee was tasked in December 2009 with finding a new set of personalities for the banknotes after the central bank shelved its original list – which included Rachel the Poetess, writer Shai Agnon and former prime ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin - following strong opposition from, among others, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and MK Benny Begin, son of Menachem.

The New Israeli Shekel was introduced in place of the old shekel in 1985, with banknotes featuring the same personalities that can still be found today: former prime minister Moshe Sharett on the NIS 20 note, Shay Agnon on the NIS 50 note, and former presidents Yitzhak Ben- Zvi and Zalman Shazar on the NIS 100 and 200 notes.

According to the Bank of Israel, the new series will incorporate state-of the-art security and identification features to aid anti-counterfeiting measures.

Source : Jerusalem Post

[Bimat]

New banknotes with different colors to be issued in 2013

The design stage of the new banknotes has been completed, and the first two new banknotes, of NIS 50 and NIS 200 denominations, will be issued in mid-2013.

5 November 12 13:12, Adrian Filut

The Bank of Israel yesterday announced that the design stage of the new banknotes has been completed, and that the first two new banknotes, of NIS 50 and NIS 200 denominations, will be issued in mid-2013. The new NIS 20 and NIS 100 banknotes will be issued in early 2014. The currency name of "New Israeli Shekel" will be kept.

The new banknotes will have state-of-the-art security marks and will be in different sizes to make it easier for blind people to distinguish between the different denominations. The new banknotes will have different colors from the current banknotes of the same denominations.

The NIS 20 note will bear the portrait of Rachel the Poetess (Bluwstein) and will be red. The NIS 50 note will bear the portrait of Shaul Tchenichovski and will be green. The NIS 100 note will bear the portrait of Leah Goldberg and will be orange. The NIS 200 note will bear the portrait of Natan Alterman and will be blue.

The Bank of Israel has not shown the portraits that will appear on the new notes, to prevent forgeries.

Last week, the Bank of Israel briefed and updated representatives of the commercial banks about the preparations for the launch of the new banknotes.

Source: Globes

[Bimat]

New Israeli banknotes let the Ashkenazi-Sephardi genie out the bottle, again

Bank of Israel presents new set of bills that will feature the likenesses of famous Hebrew poets, amid criticism that they lack Sephardi and Arab figures; Netanyahu: We will have Sephardi poet on next bills.

By Moti Bassok    | Apr.28, 2013 | 12:57 PM |

The cabinet authorized on Sunday the issuance of newly designed paper money for NIS 50 and NIS 200 notes.

The new bills are to enter circulation at the end of 2013. Their designs feature the likenesses of famous Hebrew poets. Criticism has been aired at the selection of the poets, who are all Ashkenazi Jews.

According to the plan that Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer presented to the cabinet, Shaul Tchernichovsky is to feature on the new NIS 50 note, which will be green.

A new, primarily blue NIS 200 note will carry the likeness of Natan Alterman. Next year, the plan calls for two more new designs with poets - a new NIS 20 note with the picture of Rachel Bluwstein (better known simply as Rachel the Poet), and a NIS 100 banknote with Lea Goldberg.

A public committee chose the four literary figures.

At the opening of Sunday's government conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the criticism aired at the selection of portraits:

"The Governor of the Bank of Israel will present the new bills today. They are pretty, and touch our heart through poetry. I agree with those who say that there was, and is room, for including representation of the Sephardi communities, and others as well. I have a concrete proposal - that the first choice for the next set of bills will be Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, whom I consider one of Israel's greatest poets, and regard his poetry as genius, and of great importance to our cultural heritage. But certainly there will be other suggestions. You are welcome to submit your own to the next Governor of the Bank of Israel."

MK Arieh Deri (Shas) said Sunday that 'the approval of the new bills this morning is symptomatic of the way the authorities treat the Mizrachi population.'

"The exclusion of Mizrachi jews exists in the High Court, in academics, in the media, in the selection of the Israel Prize, in the current government, and now also in the bills. [...]  A bill with a portrait of a Mizrachi isn't worth less."

"We will not be satisfied by declarations and promises," he added, "we will fight discrimination with all the tools at our disposal, for the benefit of the discriminated Mizrach public."

MK Isawi Freij (Meretz), in turn, suggested the new bills be graced by a portrait of Israeli-Palestinian writer Emile Habibi.

Source

[Bimat]

Additional Information Regarding the New Banknote Series

07/08/2013

The Bank of Israel's requirements regarding the design and technical details of the new banknote series are uncompromising.  These requirements have been set in order to assist the public in identifying the security measures in the series, and to assure that counting and vending machines available in the market have the ability to read and identify the banknotes.  Due to the strict requirements in place, the process of issuing the new banknotes is prolonged.  It takes about seven months to print the minimum batch of banknotes necessary to begin circulation.

In order to achieve optimal quality, the circulation of the first two banknotes—the NIS 50 and NIS 200 denominations—will be delayed by several months, and is expected to begin during the second half of 2014.  The circulation of the two other denominations—the NIS 20 and NIS 100—will begin a few months thereafter.  The Committee for the Planning of Banknotes, Coins and Commemorative Coins headed by Judge Jacob Turkel has been continuously and closely accompanying the design process.

In the coming months, the Bank of Israel will provide banks and manufacturers of vending, counting and sorting machines with samples of the new banknotes, in order to enable them to calibrate the machines for receiving the new banknotes.  In addition, the Bank of Israel will provide the public with extensive information regarding the security features that are integrated in the banknotes, and the process of changing over from the old to the new banknotes.

The issuance of the new banknotes will be accompanied by the dissemination of extensive information to the public in five languages and in several media channels accessible to the entire public.

The current banknotes will continue in use as legal tender for a few years, and the public will be given an additional interval of several years to exchange the current banknotes for new ones.

Source: Bank of Israel (Official Press Release)

[Bimat]

Bank of Israel Unveils New Design for 50 Shekel Note Featuring Poet Saul Tchernichovsky

MARCH 3, 2014 12:12 AM

The Bank of Israel on Sunday unveiled the design for its new 50 shekel note scheduled to be printed and put into circulation in the next few days, Israel's Channel 2 reported.

The bill has undergone a radical makeover and will now feature the likeness of poet Saul Tchernichovsky. Furthermore, the new tender will be green, as opposed to the current deep purple. Finally, the dimensions of the NIS 50 banknote have been changed to 136 mm by 71 mm, in order to aid the visually impaired.

The new note will also incorporate the most advanced anti-counterfeit features.

While change is in the air, the Bank of Israel explained that the existing banknote, which contains a picture of Nobel laureate S.Y. Agnon, "...will continue to be accepted as legal tender for several more years. The public will be given sufficient time to replace existing notes for the new bills."

Source

[Bimat]

The new 50 Shekel banknote will be issued on September 16, 2014.

Aditya

[Bimat]

More details about the new 200 Shekel banknote are now available:

http://www.boi.org.il/en/NewsAndPublications/PressReleases/Pages/231115-Completion200NIS.aspx

Aditya

[Enlil]

And the last issue was so nice. They must have a brand new photocopier.

[Bimat]

Here are the new 20 and 100 Shekel banknotes. Image Source: Bank of Israel Press Release.

Aditya

[Bimat]

Anger In Meah Shearim Over New Bank Notes Which Have Images Of Women On Them

November 23, 2017 5:30 pm

Kol Berama Radio host Avi Maimon reports of objections to new 20 and 100 shekels notes by people in Meah Shearim, as both new bills have pictures of women.

Rumors of a boycott are circulating and Yishai Dricks headed out to speak with Yoli Krauss, the operations officer of the Eida Chareidis, to see if there truly is a boycott.

Krauss told Kol Berama Radio one should not use the bills and if one gives him a 100 shekel note with a woman on it he will not accept it. He adds most prefer to use US dollars but will use shekels, however the new ones with the women on it are not acceptable.

The new 20 shekel bill bears the portrait of the poet Rachel Bluestein, in red color and length of 129 mm. The new 100 shekel bill bears the portrait of poet Leah Goldberg, in orange color and length of 143 mm.

Source: The Yeshiva World

[Figleaf]

Yes, poetry is so sinful when it comes from persons with incorrect plumbing. If these zealots would decline to engage in sex, they would remove more, and more embarrassing meetings with women and they would resolve their (and our) problem completely in about 80 years.

Peter

[Bimat]

Rabbi bans 50-shekel note as it features poet who married a Christian

Prominent Charedi figure Benzion Mutzafi rules that religious people shouldn't look at the denomination which depicts Shaul Tchernichovsky.

BY JTA December 5, 2017, 2:32 pm

A prominent Charedi Sephardi rabbi in Israel ruled that religious people should not look at the 50-shekel banknote because the poet featured on its front was married to a Christian.

Rabbi Benzion Mutzafi reportedly made the ruling over the weekend concerning the bill showing Shaul Tchernichovsky, a renowned Hebrew poet who was married to a non-Jewish Russian woman named Melania Karlova. The ruling was first reported on the Charedi news website Kikar Hashabbat.

The bill was unveiled in 2014.

"They say that at the time, (then-chief rabbi) Rabbi Avraham Kook begged, implored and asked him to try to convince her to convert to Judaism. And he refused," Mutzafi reportedly said of Tchernichovsky.

The rabbi also said: "In our tradition, there are grave things written about whoever (lives) with a Christian. Tied to him like a dog. (They) are called apostates."

Mutzafi reportedly took out a 50-shekel banknote and told one of his students that he was forbidden from looking at it. The rabbi said he keeps such banknotes folded with the portrait on the inside so he does not have to look at it.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the rabbi also gave the same ruling in the Ask the Rabbi section of his website.

Source: Jewish News