10 Israeli Lirot Banknote (Sir Moses Montefiore)

10 Lirot Israeli Lira (Issued 1973)

Issued in 1973, the 10 Lirot banknote from the Bank of Israel appeared during a watershed moment in the nation’s history, the same year as the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that would profoundly reshape Israel’s political and economic landscape. The note belongs to the long-running Lira Issues series that spanned from the 1950s through to the 1970s, representing the mature phase of Israel’s original currency before the introduction of the Shekel in 1980. At the time of issue, the Israeli Lira had been the backbone of the country’s monetary system for over two decades, and this denomination carried considerable everyday purchasing value. The 1973 date printed on the note thus connects it to one of the most defining periods in modern Israeli history.

On the front, the note is dominated by a finely engraved portrait of Sir Moses Montefiore, the renowned Victorian-era British Jewish philanthropist and one of the most celebrated figures in nineteenth-century Jewish history, whose legacy in Jerusalem and the wider Jewish world made him a natural choice for Israel’s currency. The portrait is rendered in a rich purple-violet tone with exceptional intaglio engraving detail, capturing his characteristic wide-brimmed hat, distinguished beard, and formal period attire with great precision. Behind the portrait, the background carries a finely detailed architectural vignette that includes a wall structure and, notably, a windmill to the right — a direct reference to Mishkenot Sha’ananim, the first neighbourhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, which Montefiore himself funded and built in the 1860s, complete with a windmill intended to provide employment for its residents. The denomination appears in bold numerals — “10” — in the upper left and upper right corners, while the Hebrew text “עשר לירות ישראליות” (ten Israeli pounds) is prominently displayed in the upper centre. The issuing authority, “בנק ישראל” (Bank of Israel), is printed in Hebrew along the lower centre, with the year 1973 appearing in both Western numerals and Hebrew date script. Two authorising signatures are visible in the lower left, accompanied by their respective Hebrew titles denoting the Governor and a senior Bank official, alongside two small decorative stamp-like emblems beneath them. The overall colour palette is a cool purple-lavender with a pale pinkish background wash, giving the note a distinctive and immediately recognisable appearance within the Lira series.

The reverse presents a bold and detailed engraving of the Tower of David and the Jaffa Gate complex, one of Jerusalem’s most iconic historic landmarks, rendered in the same purple-violet colour scheme that characterises the front. The central image shows the arched stone gateway of the Jaffa Gate with its ornate carved stonework, flanked by the ancient city walls and the distinctive cylindrical tower of the Citadel of Jerusalem, known as the Tower of David, rising to the right. The architectural engraving is executed with considerable precision, conveying the texture of the ancient stonite and the depth of the fortifications. The serial number 2408439483 appears twice — once in the upper left area and once in the lower right — printed in a lighter ink. The text “בנק ישראל” (Bank of Israel) is printed in Hebrew in the upper centre, with the English “BANK OF ISRAEL” appearing in full along the lower edge of the note. To the upper right of centre, Hebrew text in a lighter, more decorative rendering repeats the denomination and issuing bank details. The background of the reverse carries a subtle guilloché pattern in a pale rose-lavender wash, and faint show-through from the front portrait is visible against the light paper, consistent with the security paper used across this series.

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