Discourses on outdated but still valid currencies in Israel, from the Egyptian withdrawal in 1841 to 2023

When reading texts mentioning past currencies, especially those that were in use in Ottoman and British Palestine and the first decade of the State of Israel, historians often remain puzzled as to the relative value of former legal tenders in particular historical periods (i.e. what a specific sum of money could buy), and more so how to interpret the value of specific currencies between these and later periods. Such an interpretation is not only the interest of historians, because there is a practical need to verify sums in obsolete currencies, such as in agreements and laws, in today’s money. Few experts are able to make even an inexact linkage from the Mandate period to present day Israel, while linkage from the Ottoman period remains too vague. The main aim of this article is to improve this situation by using applied history, to propose some rules of thumb for understanding the magnitude of such currencies, according to market values and/or laws, and to provide a provisional tool for linkage of former legal tenders–Ottoman Liras, Egyptian Pounds, British Pounds, Palestinian Pounds, Israeli Liras and old Shekels–to present monetary values.