Catalog
1 Palestine Pound
| Issuer | Anglo-Palestine Bank Limited |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948-1952 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#15 |
| Obverse description | The face of the note is dominated by intricate guilloche patterns forming a decorative underprint across the entire field. The denomination "1" appears at left and right, with the issuing bank's name, "The Anglo-Palestine Bank Limited," rendered in Hebrew and English. Bilingual payment obligations and legal tender clauses are inscribed in Hebrew and English across the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 1 בנק אנגלו-פלשתינה בע`מ תל-אביב ישלם למוכ`ז לירה א`י אחת הבנק יקבל השטר הזה לשלם תשלום בכל חשבון שהוא THE ANGLO-PALESTINE BANK LIMITED WILL PAY TO THE BEARER ONE PALESTINE POUND TEL-AVIV LEGAL TENDER FOR PAYMENT OF ANY AMOUNT מטבע חוקית לתשלום כל סכום שהוא THE BANK WILL ACCEPT THIS NOTE FOR PAYMENT IN ANY ACCOUNT |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Anglo-Palestine Bank issued this note under a peculiar legal fiction: it was a commercial bank, not a central bank, yet it functioned as the sole currency authority for the new State of Israel from May 1948 until the Bank of Israel was established in 1954. The Palestine Pound designation was retained even after the state declared independence, purely to maintain monetary continuity during a period when establishing a sovereign currency would have created immediate economic disruption.
The ABNC printing contract predated independence — plates were commissioned while the outcome of the British Mandate was still uncertain. Notes from this series circulated alongside the Israeli Pound after 1952 at a fixed parity.