Israeli coins are very difficult to date as many of the characters look almost the same. Too bad they don't institute a numbering system that is a little clearer. My question concerns mint marks. I find many Israeli coins with what appear to be mint marks but are not listed in Krause's catalog. The particular one I have been asking about is the 1 new Sheqel dated 1994 JE 5754. There are others of course, but this is the one I have in front of me. On the reverse of the coin is what appears to be a chalice or wine goblet and below that is the letter o. I can find no mention of an o mint mark for this coin in Krause's catalog. What does the o stand for? What is the significance of the (f) and (u) listed for this coin under KM# 160a, and how does this help me to identify which one of these I have? Regards,
1 New Sheqel Type I and Type II KM # 160 was the cupro-nickel version dated 1985 (5745) through 1993 (HE 5753), which has no raised and incused dot below the State emblem. This version is non-magnetic and weighs 4 gr. As from 1994 (HE 5754) the composition was changed to nickel bonded steel. This version - KM # 160a - has the small raised and incused dot below the State emblem. This version is magnetic. It is also lighter at 3.6 gr. Version II was minted intermittently until 2007 (HE 5767). If KP adopts the input of several Israeli collectors, all coins dated from 2009 (HE 5769) onwards should be labeled as Type III, and KP may decide to list them as KM # 160b. On this version the word Israel in Arabic is spelled differently with an additional punctuation below the first letter Aliph. Details can be viewed here: http://sheqel.info/2-5.htm. Concerning your remark about the Hebrew numbering system, well... maybe we should consider your suggestion, but not before the US changes from pounds and ounces to kilograms and grams, miles to kilometers, gallons and pints to liters.
