Israel 1974 500 lirot
This specimen was lot 6805 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2017), where it sold for $940. The catalog description[1] noted, "ISRAEL. 500 Lirot, 1974. NGC PROOF-66. Struck on the first anniversary of the death of founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion. Without any detracting marks, bright and flashing." This is the first issue of this denomination tho it is safe to say that no gold coin of Israel actually circulated. It is accompanied by a silver twenty-five lirot (KM 79.1). Massive influx of aid from the United States fueled inflation and coinage reforms in 1960, 1980 and 1985.
Recorded mintage: 47,528 proofs.
Specification: 28 g, 0.900 fine gold, .805 troy oz AGW, 35 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Fr-12; KM-82.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, The January 2017 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Richard Stuart Collection, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2016.
Link to: