Getting Familiar with Shekels Ahead of Your Trip to Israel
May 6th 2015
When you first exchange dollars for shekels, you might joke that the bills look like Monopoly money. But confusing or unfamiliar as foreign currency can be, the shekel is Israel’s legal tender—so it’s worth spending a few minutes getting familiar with it before you arrive.
The word shekel appears in the Bible, which is why it was adopted as the name of Israel’s modern currency. Today it’s officially called the New Israeli Shekel, abbreviated as NIS or ILS. Prices in Israel are listed in shekels and agurot. Agurot function like cents, but since a single agura is worth only a fraction of a U.S. penny, one-agura coins are no longer produced.
There are several ways to obtain shekels. Hotels typically offer the worst exchange rates, so they’re best avoided. If you’re exchanging cash, street-level currency exchange offices—common in tourist and shopping areas—usually offer better rates. Staff generally speak basic English, and you can ask the rate before committing. Expect the rate to be slightly lower than the official bank rate published by the Bank of Israel.
ATMs at major bank branches are widely available and usually allow you to withdraw shekels directly from your home bank account. Credit cards are also commonly accepted at stores, restaurants, and hotels. In these cases, your bank—not the local merchant—sets the exchange rate. While rates are often competitive, international transaction fees can add up, so it’s wise to check with your card issuer before traveling.
Israel currently has six coins in circulation. Two are bronze-colored: the 10-agurot coin and the 50-agurot coin (also called a half-shekel). The remaining coins include three silver-colored coins—the 1-shekel, 2-shekel, and 5-shekel—and one distinctive bi-metal coin. The 2-shekel coin, introduced in 2007, is sometimes nicknamed the “shneckel,” while the 10-shekel coin is the most valuable and recognizable, featuring a bronze center surrounded by a steel ring.
Paper currency comes in four denominations: 20 shekels (green), 50 shekels (purple), 100 shekels (brown), and 200 shekels (red). A redesigned, green-dominant 50-shekel note was introduced in 2014, and both versions remain in circulation. New designs for the other denominations are planned and overseen by the Bank of Israel, which manages the country’s currency system.
