Palestine pound

Palestine pound
‏جنيه فلسطيني‏ (Arabic)
‏ פונט פלשתינאי (א"י) ‏ (Hebrew)
1939 One Palestine Pound
User(s) British Mandate of Palestine
Emirate of Transjordan
Subunit
1/1000 Mill
Coins 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 mils
Banknotes 500 mils, 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 pounds
Central bank Palestine currency Board
Printer Thomas De La Rue
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The Palestine pound (Arabic: جُنَيْه فِلَسْطَينِيّ‎, junyah filastini; Hebrew: פֿוּנְט פַּלֶשְׂתִינָאִי א"י))‎‎, funt palestina'i (eretz-yisra'eli), also Hebrew: לירה א"י))‎‎ lira eretz-yisra'elit) was the currency of the British Mandate of Palestine between 1927 and 1948. It was divided into 1000 mils (Arabic: Arabic: مِل‎, Hebrew: Hebrew: מִיל‎). The Palestine pound was also the currency of Transjordan until 1949 and the West Bank until 1950.

Contents

History

Until 1918, the region known as Palestine was an integral part of the Ottoman Empire and therefore used its currency, the Ottoman lira. Following the establishment of the British mandate of Palestine, the Egyptian pound also circulated alongside the Turkish money until 1927. This created an unsatisfactory situation which required a currency reform. The Palestine pound was introduced, equal in value to the Pound sterling. The Palestine pound was also declared a legal tender in the Transjordan Emirate, which was technically a part of the British Mandate, though having an autonomous local administration. The body which governed the issue of the currency was the Palestine Currency Board, which was subject to the British Colonial Office. The Currency Board was dissolved in May 1948, as the British mandate ended. The area in which the Palestine pound circulated was divided into several political entities: the State of Israel, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In Israel, there was a transitional period of 4 years between the end of the British Mandate and the adoption of a fully independent currency system. Between 1948 and 1952 the Palestine pound continued to be a legal tender. In August 1948, new banknotes were issued by the Anglo Palestine Company, owned by the Jewish Agency and based in London.

In Jordan, the Palestine pound was replaced by the Jordanian dinar in 1949. In 1949, Jordan annexed the West Bank, but the Palestine pound continued to circulate until 1950. The Jordanian dinar is still legal tender in the West Bank along with Israeli shekely.

In the Gaza Strip, the Palestine pound circulated until April 1951, when it was replaced by the Egyptian pound, three years after the Egyptian army took control of the territory. Today, Gaza Strip inhabitants mostly use the Israeli shekely.

In the Oslo Accords the Palestinian Authority was debarred from issuing its own currency and constrained to remain dependent on the Israeli or Jordanian currencies. However, the Palestinians were able to issue postage stamps and these were valued in terms of the Palestine pound, which Palestinian economists and officials declared to be a still-existent (though at present "dormant") currency, to be revived after Palestinian independence. In practice, prices in the Palestinian territories are quoted in Israeli currency.

There is a report that the Palestinian authorities are considering issuing new banknotes and coins in 2011.[1]

Coins

In 1927, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mils. The 1 and 2 mils were struck in bronze, whilst the 5, 10 and 20 mils were holed, cupro-nickel coins, except for during World War II, when they were also minted in bronze. The 50 and 100 mils coins were struck in .720 silver.

All the denominations were trilingual in Arabic, English and Hebrew. The Hebrew inscription includes the initials Alef Yud after "Palestina", for "Eretz Yisrael". The last coins were issued for circulation in 1946, with all 1947 dated coins being melted down.

Palestinian Pound Coinage
Image Value Technical parameters Description Date of first minting
Diameter Mass Composition Edge Obverse Reverse
1 mil 21 mm 3.23 g Bronze Plain "Palestine" in Arabic, English, and Hebrew,
year of minting		 Value in Arabic, English, and Hebrew,
olive sprig		 1927
2 mils 28 mm 7.77 g
5 mils 20 mm 2.91 g Cupro-nickel Value in Arabic, English, and Hebrew
10 mils 27 mm 6.47 g
20 mils 30.5 mm 11.33 g
50 mils 23.5 mm 5.83 g 720‰ Silver Reeded "Palestine" in Arabic, English, and Hebrew,
year of minting, olive sprig
100 mils 29 mm 11.66 g
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

Banknotes

In 1927, banknotes were introduced by the Palestine Currency Board in denominations of 500 mils, 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 pounds. Notes were issued with dates up to 1945.

Palestinian Pound Banknotes
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of first printing Quantity circulated at the end of the Mandate
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse Watermark
500 mils 127 × 76 mm Purple Rachel's Tomb Citadel and Tower of David Olive sprig 1 September 1927 1,872,811
1 pound 166 × 89 mm Yellowish green Dome of the Rock 9,413,578
[1] 5 pounds 192 × 103 mm Red Tower of Ramla 3,909,230
[2] 10 pounds Blue 2,004,128
50 pounds Purple 20,577
100 pounds Green 1,587
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

The 100 pound note was equivalent to 40 months wages of a skilled worker in Palestine. Currently six of them are unaccounted for and four are known to exist in the hand of collectors. Their serial numbers and dates are:

See also

References

  1. ^ Possible new series
  • Krause, Chester L., and Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed. ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501. 
  • Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9. 
  • Berlin, Howard (2005). The Coins And Banknotes of Palestine Under the British Mandate, 1927-1947. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786424451. 

External links

Historical currencies of Israel     
Year May–August 1948 1948–1960 1960–1980 1980–1985 1985–present
Main unit Palestinian pound Israeli lira Shekel New shekel
Subunit 1/1000 = mil
 1/1000 = pruta 1/100 = agora 1/100 = new agora 1/100 = agora
Currency
Bank of Palestine • Palestinian pound
Banking and Finance
Currencies named pound or similar
Current
Defunct

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See also