5000 Sheqalim Levi Eshkol

This note belongs to the second "Sheqalim" series, issued during Israel's worst inflationary episode. Between 1983 and 1985, inflation ran at several hundred percent annually, peaking near 450% in 1984 — the very year this denomination entered circulation. The 5,000 denomination would have been a routine transaction note within months of issue.

The Canadian Bank Note Company had a long-standing relationship with Bank of Israel printing contracts. The series was rendered obsolete almost immediately by the 1985 Economic Stabilization Plan, which replaced the sheqel with the new sheqel at a ratio of 1,000 to 1.