This guide is for coin collectors who wish to find and collect the 59 coins minted for circulation in historic 20th Century Palestine, issued from 1927 to 1946.
"Palestine coins"
The only world coins bearing the name "Palestine" were issued from 1927 to 1947 under the British Mandate to govern Palestine, which was granted to Great Britain by the League of Nations in 1923.
Under the auspices of the Palestine Currency Board, 59 different coins were minted for circulation in Palestine during the period from 1927 through 1946. (A few proof coins were also issued in 1947.)
What"s unusual about Palestine coins?
1. Palestine coins were minted only when needed. For this reason, there are many years in which no coins appeared, and "gaps" between dates in each denomination.
2. Palestine coins are vertically oriented the same way on obverse and reverse, an orientation which is much more commonly found in medals than in coins.
3. Many coins of this Holy Land of Christians, Jews, and Muslims are also "holey." Three of the seven denominations - the 5, 10, and 20 Mils - have large center holes.
4. Each coin is tri-lingual, bearing legends in three languages: English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
5. One surface of each of these coins - either obverse or reverse, depending on denomination - contains only words (legends). This is similar to many historic Islamic coins. Only one surface bears a picture, of an olive sprig or wreath.
6. These Palestine coins were successively demonetized in Israel, the Gaza Strip (at the time part of Egypt), and Jordan from 1948 to 1951. Around that time, many of these coins, particularly those in the silver 50 and 100 Mils denominations, but also including some bronze and cupronickel coins, were melted. As a result, these coins are scarcer than their published mintages.
What dates and denominations are available to collect?
The denominations of the 59 Palestine coins issued for circulation from 1927 to 1946 range from 1 Mil to 100 Mils. Each Mil represents 1/1000th of a Palestine Pound, equivalent to one British Pound Sterling, thus the 100 Mils coins was equivalent in value to 1/10 of a Pound, or to a British Florin or Two Shillings coin. The full list of dates and denominations is:
Ten (10) different dates of 1 Mil coins, in bronze:
Dates were 1927, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1946.
Five (5) different dates of 2 Mils coins, in bronze:
Dates were 1927, 1941, 1942, 1945, and 1946.
Eight (8) different dates of 5 Mils coins, in cupronickel and (during World War II) bronze:
Dates were 1927, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1942 (bronze), 1944 (bronze), and 1946.
Twelve (12) different 10 Mils coins, bearing 11 different dates, in cupronickel and (during World War II) bronze:
Dates were 1927, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942 (in both cupronickel and bronze varieties), 1943 (bronze), and 1946.
Eight (8) different dates of 20 Mils coins, in cupronickel and (during World War II) bronze:
Dates were 1927, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942 (bronze), and 1944 (bronze).
Eight (8) different dates of 50 Mils coins, silver :
Dates were: 1927, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1940, and 1942.
Eight (8) different dates of 100 Mils coins, silver :
Dates were 1927, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1940, and 1942.
During World War II, coins in the cupronickel 5, 10, and 20 Mils series were temporarily issued in bronze varieties, due to a demand for nickel for use in munitions. 10 Mils coins were issued in both cupronickel and bronze in 1942.
There were also a few, extremely rare proof coins dated 1947, never issued for circulation. Finally, a small number of rare proof coins also were issued for other dates, most notably 1927.
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