New 50 Shekel Note Unveiled

Israel unveiled a new 50 shekel note on Wednesday, to be introduced into circulation next week.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug presented the new bill, which boasts the latest in security safeguards, at a press conference in Yerushalayim.

“In order that this bill retain its value, we must maintain security, as well as our economy,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu praised Flug and the BOI for their efforts to maintain the stability of Israel’s economy.

Flug praised the bill as “unique both in its design and in its security technology, among the most advanced in the world.”

They incorporate a range of leading edge anti-counterfeiting security features, created through various technologies. In addition, the new banknotes include special features to aid the blind and vision impaired, the bank said.

The 50 shekel banknotes in use today, from Series B of the New Shekel, which entered circulation in 1999, will continue to be legal tender for several years, and will be in circulation in parallel with the new banknotes. When the older banknotes are deposited at the Bank of Israel, they will gradually be replaced with banknotes from the new series.

The new 50 note bears a likeness of the Hebrew poet Shaul Tchernikovsky.

This article appeared in print on page 9 of the September 11th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.