Israeli agora

The agora (, plural אגורות, agorot) is a denomination of the currency of Israel. The Israeli currency - the new Israeli shekel (NIS) is divided into 100 agorot.

The name agora actually refers to three kinds of currencies that were used in Israel throughout its history, all of them have been subdivisions of the main currency units.

This name was used for the first time in 1960, when the Israeli government decided to change the subdivision of the Israeli lira (a.k.a Israeli pound) from 1000 prutot to 100 agorot. The name was suggested by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, and was borrowed from the Hebrew Bible, I Samuel 2:36 ...every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a 'piece of silver... (the term "piece of silver" appears in Hebrew as "agorat kessef").

In 1980 the Israeli lira was abolished and replaced by the shekel at a rate of 10 IP per 1 shekel. The new subdivision of the shekel was named agora ħadasha ("new agora"). There were 100 new agorot in 1 shekel. The high rate of inflation in Israel in the early 1980s forced the Israeli government to change the Israeli currency once again in 1985. The new shekel was introduced at a rate of 1000 S per 1 NS. The name agora was used once again for its subdivision. This time the term "new" was avoided, in order to prevent confusion with...
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