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500 Prutah
| Issuer | Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1952-1954 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 149 × 72 mm |
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| Obverse description | The face is dominated by an intricate guilloche underprint framing the central panel. The denomination "500 Prutah" is inscribed in Hebrew numerals and text, accompanied by the issuing institution name "Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M." in Hebrew script. A declaration of legal tender and promise-to-pay clause in Hebrew is rendered in fine letterpress across the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The back presents an elaborate guilloche pattern as the primary decorative element. The denomination "Five Hundred Prutah" appears in both Arabic script and English text, flanked by Eastern Arabic numerals (٥٠٠), with the bank name "Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M." rendered in both Arabic and English. Legal tender and promise-to-pay declarations are set out in both languages in fine letterpress. |
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| Comments |
Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. — originally founded as the Anglo-Palestine Bank in 1902 — was not a central bank but a commercial institution pressed into quasi-governmental monetary functions before the Bank of Israel was established in 1954. This note belongs to the transitional "Prutah" series, denominated in a currency that had replaced the Palestine Pound mil-for-mil in 1949 and would itself be swept aside by the Lira in 1952 at 1,000 Prutot to the Pound.
The American Bank Note Company contract reflects Israel's limited domestic printing capacity in its early years. ABNC's involvement was practical necessity, not prestige.