5 Palestine Pounds Provisional Issue

The Anglo-Palestine Bank was a commercial institution — not a central bank — yet found itself thrust into the role of currency issuer in May 1948 when the British Mandate ended and the State of Israel declared independence. The Palestinian pound, previously issued by the Palestine Currency Board in London, ceased to be produced. These provisional notes were an emergency stopgap, authorized under Israeli government instruction to keep money circulating while a proper state currency was designed and printed.

The "provisional" designation is literal: these were existing Anglo-Palestine Bank cheques overstamped and issued as legal tender. The arrangement lasted only until the Israeli pound was introduced in 1952.