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Select Israeli Coins

Category:  World Coins
Owner:  Taler Universe
Last Modified:  1/22/2020
Set Description



I recently refocused my collection to include select pieces from Israel's monetary history, being of high grade and distinct eye appeal. Israel's coins have been somewhat neglected over the years for a variety of reasons and poorly kept. However, when recognizing the circumstances and history related to every trade or commemorative coin issue, one should note that the country is quite young, highly dynamic and turbulent, accomplishing much in its 69 years. The coins tell its story and I believe that over time, will be of greater interest.

Set Goals

Expand the set by obtaining representative coins from Israel's trade and commemorative coin issues. Focus on technical quality and eye appeal.

Slot Name
Origin/Country
Item Description
Full Grade
Owner Comments
Pics
View Coin 25 Mils, 1948 - Israel's First Coin Issue ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25M JE5708(1948) Israel NGC MS 64 1948. 25 Mils. KM-8. 30mm (97% aluminum, 3% magnesium), 3.1gr to 3.8gr. Smooth edge, beaded rim. Jerusalem/Holon Mint. First coin of a Jewish Commonwealth since the Bar-Kochba revolt (132-135 CE). The only coin of Israel dated "5708" - 1948. Mintage: 42,650. Ultra Rare Coin in MS Grade. Obv: Cluster of grapes with tendril and leaf, "Israel" in Hebrew above, Arabic below. Rev: Between two stylized olive branches the inscription "25 Mils" in Hebrew and Arabic and the year of issue in Hebrew. "5708". Short Lived Coin, minted under difficult conditions. "Open" Clam above "25 Mils". Spectacular. NGC MS-64.

Israel's First Coin. BY DAVID T. ALEXANDER

It would be easy to draw up a list of great world rarities - coins that would strain a king's treasury to buy. Fascination can come, however, not only from great rarity and dazzling price records but also from the story a coin can tell and from the historical context in which it was written. Coins have been eyewitnesses to the stirring and often violent events of the just past century. Coins testify to the birth or death of nations, recall vanished rulers and regimes, and bring revolutions and conquests into your hands.

At the opening of the 20th century, the name Israel was found only in the Bible or as a collective word for the Jewish people in exile. After the founding of Zionism by Budapest-born journalist Theodor Herzl, vast effort was expended in establishing what Britain's Balfour Declaration called a "National Home for the Jewish People" in what had been the neglected backwater of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine.

Despite growing Arab and British opposition, Jewish immigration accelerated in response to Hitler's wartime genocide in Europe. Unable to resolve the Arab-Jewish conflict, the British withdrew in May 1948, after the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. The Zionist leadership proclaimed the State of Israel on May 15, 1948. Already under attack by Arab irregulars, the new nation repelled several Arab regular armies, emerging with greatly increased territory after three waves of struggle.

To the new Jewish State, coinage had an unusually poignant significance. A start was made toward a new Jewish coinage during the 1948 fighting in the Mechsav cutlery factory in Tel Aviv's industrial suburb of Holon. The fall story of this coinage emerged only after the present writer's on-the-spot research during the 1979 American Israel Numismatic Association study tour to Israel.

Yosef Gannoy of Mechsaf modified a Bridgeport-built cutlery stamping press to hold coinage dies cut by Saloh Kluegermann, brother of the firm's owner. Moshe Neudorfer of the new Israel Treasury brought the reverse (value-side) die to the factory every working day and a slow, laborious striking commenced.

The 25 mils was a 30mm coin of 97 percent aluminum, 3 percent magnesium, bearing a plain edge. The obverse depicted a bunch of grapes taken from a bronze prutah of Herod Archelaus (circa 4 B.C.). The stylized reverse wreath was adapted from coins of John Hyrkanos (135-104 B.C.) and was used in the later prutah series.

The exact number of coins bearing the Hebrew date 5708 (1948) is unknown, but certainly small. Little attention was paid to such details in the midst of war. A substantially greater number was struck dated 5709 (1949). The coins' overall quality disappointed the Treasury, and they were released only because of the serious coin shortage following the British withdrawal and the following war.
View Coin 25 Mils, 1948 - Uniface Trial Strike ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25M JE5708(1948) Israel UNIFACE TRIAL STRIKE PCGS AU 58 1948. Israel. Trial strike of KM-8. Israel's first Coin, struck in aluminum. KM-8. 30mm, 3.3gr. Mintage: 42,650. Obv: The denomination "25 Mil" in Hebrew and Arabic; date in Hebrew below; two stylized olive branches around, based off of coins struck during the Bar-Kochba Revolt (132-135 CE). Rev: Uniface.. There is debate as to weather a few dozen to about 100 struck. PCGS AU-58.

The uniface strikes were reportedly struck while testing the dies one at a time. It has also been stated that these are actual errors, when the obverse die had been removed for security purposes and not replaced when the striking was resumed. They have been known to be counterfeited. On the original strike there are small raised dots on the blank side in repetitive alignments. On the counterfeit coins these do not appear as they have been buffed on the obverse.. According to estimates, there are 30-40 units Of the coin known to exist. PCGS, AU-58.. Very rare.
View Coin 25 Mils, Open Link ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25M JE5709(1949) Israel OPEN LINK NGC MS 64 KM-8 . JY-5709 (1949). Jerusalem Mint. 25 Mils. Israel's first coin as a modern state, officially released in circulation on April 6, 1949. Open link variety: "Open" Clam above "25 Mils". Mintage: 650,000 (including open/closed link varieties). Edge: Plain. Diameter: 30mm. Weight: 3.3 gm. Rim: Pearled. Obv: Cluster of grapes with tendril and leaf, "Israel" in Hebrew above, Arabic below. Rev: Between two olive branches "25 Mils" in Hebrew and Arabic. Short Lived Coin, minted under difficult conditions and tough to find in mint state. NGC MS-64.
View Coin 25 Mils, Closed Link ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25M JE5709(1949) Israel CLOSED LINK NGC MS 62 KM-8 . JY-5709 (1949). Jerusalem Mint. 25 Mils. Israel's first coin as a modern state, officially released in circulation on April 6, 1949. Closed link variety: "Closed" Clam above "25 Mils". Mintage: 650,000 (including open/closed link varieties). Edge: Plain. Diameter: 30mm. Weight: 3.3 gm. Rim: Pearled. Obv: Cluster of grapes with tendril and leaf, "Israel" in Hebrew above, Arabic below. Rev: Between two olive branches "25 Mils" in Hebrew and Arabic. Short Lived Coin, minted under difficult conditions and tough to find in mint state. NGC MS-62.
View Coin 1949 1 Pruta Raised Specimen Aluminum ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 Aluminum 1P 1949 RAISED SPECIMEN WITH PEARL PCGS MS 62 1949. 1 Pruta Specimen. KM-9. Aluminum. 21mm, 1.3gr. Smooth edge. PCGS SP-62.
View Coin 1949 25 Pruta Raised Specimen Cupro Nickel ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25P JE5709(1949) Israel RAISED SPECIMEN WITH PEARL PCGS PF 66 1949. 25 Pruta Raised Specimen. KM-12. Cupro-nickel (copper 75%, nickel 25%). 19.5mm, 2.82 gr. Reeded edge. PCGS SP-66.

View Coin 1949 25 Pruta Raised Specimen Cupro Nickel ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25P JE5709(1949) Israel RAISED SPECIMEN WITH PEARL NGC SP 66 1949. 25 Pruta Raised Specimen. KM-12. Cupro-nickel (copper 75%, nickel 25%). 19.5mm, 2.82 gr. Reeded edge. NGC SP-66.
View Coin 1949 25 Pruta Raised Specimen Copper ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25P JE5709(1949) Israel RAISED SPECIMEN WITH PEARL PCGS PF 65 1949. 25 Pruta Raised Specimen. KM-12. Bronze Plated. 19.5mm, 2.68 gr. Reeded edge. PCGS SP-65RD.

View Coin 1949 25 Pruta Raised Specimen Aluminum ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 25P JE5709(1949) Israel RAISED SPECIMEN WITH PEARL PCGS PF 64 1949. 25 Pruta RaisedSpecimen. KM-12. Aluminum. 19.5mm, 1.63 gr. Reeded edge. PCGS SP-64.

View Coin 1954 100 Pruta Pattern Renewal of Israel's Mint ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 100P 1954 Israel RENEWAL OF ISRAEL'S MINT COPPER-NICKEL NGC SP 66
View Coin 100 Pruta (Bern Die) ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 100P JE5714(1954) Israel BERN MINT COPPER-NICKEL NGC MS 64 1954. Israel. Copper-nickel 100 Pruta 1954. KM-18.1. Research indicates that this may be a trial coin struck in Bern, or that the dies were manufactured there. Either way, this rarely available issue features lightly-toned surfaces, as well as an appreciable amount of golden luster that drips from the devices. A most engaging and well-preserved offering with an estimated mintage of just 100 pieces. NGC MS-64.
View Coin 100 Pruta (Utrecht Die) ISRAEL - EARLY - 1948 100P JE5714(1954) Israel UTRECHT MINT NGC MS 63 1954. KM-19, Utrecht Mint. 25.6mm. Obv: In center, seven-branched palmtree with two clusters of dates; "Israel" in Hebrew above, and Arabic below. Rev: Smaller Wreath of stylized olive branches, further from the edge; in center, "100 Prutah" in Hebrew. No Pearl Variety since the master dies did not contain the design. Different Date (1954). Berries on the wreath are smaller, and closer in, almost touching wreath at the top. Zeros in "100" are narrower and taller. Mintage: 20,000, only 1,000 estimated to survive as it was withdrawn from circulation shortly after issue when it was found similar to 50 Prutah coins. Difference between Utrecht and Berne dies was only found in 1960, three years after coins release in 1957. - Mintage: 20,000, only 1,000 estimated to survive. NGC MS-63.

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