Israeli pound

Israeli pound

לירה ישראלית (Hebrew) جنيه إسرائيلي (Arabic)
IL 500 note (obverse and reverse) issued in 1975
ISO 4217
Code	ILP
Unit
Plural	pounds (לירות‎ lirot)
Symbol	ל"י‎‎ (Hebrew), IL (Latin)
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄1000	mil (1951–1952)  pruta (1952–1960)
1⁄100	agora (1960–1980)
Plural
mil (1951–1952)  pruta (1952–1960)	prutot (פרוטות‎)
agora (1960–1980)	agorot (אגורות‎)
Banknotes	IL 5, IL 10, IL 50, IL 100, IL 500
Coins	1, 5, 10, 25 agorot, IL 1⁄2, IL 1, IL 5
Demographics
Date of introduction	9 June 1952
Date of withdrawal	23 February 1980
Replaced by	First shekel
User(s)	Israel (1952–1980)
Issuance
Central bank	Bank Leumi (1952–1955) Bank of Israel (1955–1980)
Valuation
Pegged with	£1 stg at par (1952–1954)
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The pound or lira (Hebrew: לירה ישראלית Lira Yisra'elit, Arabic: جنيه إسرائيلي Junayh ʾIsrāʾīlī; abbreviation: IL^[1] in Latin, ל"י in Hebrew; code ILP) was the currency of the State of Israel from 9 June 1952 until 23 February 1980. The Israeli pound replaced the Palestine pound and was initially pegged at par to £1 sterling. It was replaced by the shekel on 24 February 1980, at the rate of IS 1 = IL 10, which was in turn replaced by the new shekel in 1985.

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).^[2]

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 Israeli pound in English.^[3] 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.^[4]