PALESTINE  

The legal framework governing the legal tender coins for the British Mandate of Palestine was initiated by the 1927 Palestine Currency Order. A memorandum relating to the new currency arrangement was published on March 1, 1927 by the Palestine government in its official gazette. The Currency Notes Ordinance 1927 was then passed in Palestine constituting as legal tender the currency that was to be issued by the Palestine Currency Board. The Order specified that the standard of currency for Palestine was to be the Palestine pound, divided into one thousand mils. This was similar to the decimal system in Egypt, based on 100 pilasters to the Egyptian pound, and unlike the typical British non-decimal currency system where 12 pence (d) equaled 1 shilling (s); 20 shillings equaled 1 pound (£) sterling. As required by Article 22 of the Mandate's charter from the League of Nations, it was necessary to show the name "Palestine" in three languages: English, Arabic, and Hebrew.

Coins

The Palestine Currency Board, after consulting with the Mandatory government officials, decided that the coins should be in the denominations of 1 and 2 mils (bronze), 5, 10, and 20 mils (nickel-bronze with center hole), and 50 and 100 mils (silver with reeded, or milled edges). For the two highest denominations, the Board adopted, with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, an alloy of 720 parts silver and 280 parts copper. Although a gold coin equal to £1 was provided for in the Currency Order in a silver/gold ratio of 10.5:1, none were ever minted.

From their initial introduction on the eve on the tenth anniversary of the Balfour Declaration (November 1, 1927), the coins were minted as needed to meet public demands. Unlike the United States for example, coins were not struck with all the possible year dates from 1927 to the termination of the Mandate in 1948. In all, there were 59 different combinations of dates and denominations comprising the entire range of regularly issued coinage. The 1947-dated coins, which were not officially released for circulation, are not part of the total number accepted by collectors as to what constitutes a complete set of coins. After the termination of the Palestine Mandate and the creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, the coins issued by the Palestine Currency Board remained legal tender in Israel until September 15, 1948; in the Gaza Strip region of Egypt until June 9, 1951; and in Jordan until June 30, 1951. Beyond these dates, the coins were demonetized.  From  Howard M. Berlin Book.  

REPLICA    please note these are      REPLICAS