Description
The Israeli new sheqalim is the official currency of Israel since 1986 when it replaced the old shekel; the legal tender is also used in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The official currency symbol; ₪. The name is derived from the Hebrew root (š-q-l), meaning “weigh”. After the economic crisis in the 1980s, the Bank of Israel, commanded by the Government of Israel, decided to remain under more efficient and cautious fiscal and monetary policies, which allowed the introduction of market economic reforms, achieving a more competitive Israeli economy. In 1985, a new series of banknotes were introduced in denominations of ₪5, ₪10, and ₪50, followed by ₪1 and ₪100 in 1986, ₪20 note in 1988, and ₪200 note in 1992. Coins later replaced the ₪1, ₪5, and ₪10 notes. The second series, introduced in 1999, replaced the 2005 series and introduced the ₪500.
In 2012, The Bank of Israel announced a new series of banknotes which was introduced between 2012 and 2017; 20₪, ₪50, ₪100, and ₪200.
The 200 Israeli new sheqalim note front design features the portrait of Zalman Shazar (1889 –1974), was an Israeli politician, author and poet who served as third President of Israel for two terms; from 1963 to 1973, on a background with students on a school class, next to the portrait is the text of the speech used by Shazar after the approval of the Compulsory Education Law in 1949. The lettering on this side of the note is in the Hebrew language. The reverse of the note features a picture of an alley in the town of Safed, a spiritual center of Kabbalists, the text superposed taken from Shazar’s essay, Tzofayih Tzefat (Thy Watchers, O Safed), first published in 1950. The lettering on this side of the note is in the Arabic and English languages. This note is part of the 1999 – 2014 series, and its color is red and red-orange on a multicolor underprint.
Text: Bank of Israel, Two Hundred Shekels, Charmain of the Advisory Board, Governor of the Bank, 200 New Shekels.