5 New Sheqalim Stork and Fir Tree

Part of Israel's ongoing Wildlife of the Holy Land series, this issue commemorates the white stork, a migratory species that passes through the Jordan Valley in extraordinary numbers each spring — counts at peak migration have exceeded half a million birds. The series itself was a deliberate effort by the Bank of Israel to broaden collector appeal beyond purely historical or religious subject matter, tapping international nature-coin markets that had grown substantially through the 1990s.

Mintages for individual Wildlife issues were tightly controlled, typically running under 3,000 pieces for gold strikes.