The Inscriptions on Modern Palestinian and Israeli Currency

Abstract

The paper deals with the legends on coinage and banknotes of Palestine (1927–1947) and
Israel (1948–2009). Mandatory Palestinian currency was conservative but not flawless. In the
first 15years of independence, Israeli currency was immature. One of the issues treated here is
the comparative usage of the two official languages (Hebrew and Arabic) and the ex-official
one, English. In the years that followed, the currency’s evolution was rather smooth, although
spotted by some curious decisions on matters of wording, presentation of dates, numerals and
transliterations.