Description

Following the establishment of the State, the government requested the Israel Numismatic Society to propose the coins designs. Leo Kadman and Hanan Pavel, together with the graphic artist Otte Wallish, submitted sketches, which were approved by the Minister of Finance, Eliezer Kaplan.

When introduced in 1949, the name chosen for Israel's trade coins was Pruta. The singular term "Pruta" (meaning "a coin of lower value"), and its plural form "Prutot", are extensively found in Mishnaic Hebrew texts dating from the second century AD onwards. For unknown reasons, the designers of the Pruta-series coins refrained from using the correct plural form Prutot, but used the erroneous singular form Pruta on all coins (5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 & 500 Pruta). Aware of this linguistic blunder, the Bank of Israel corrected the error in 1957, when two versions of the correctly spelled 10 Prutot coin were issued.

Date of issue: January 4, 1950.

Obverse

Grape bunch on vine resembling the image on a coin of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Name of country (Israel) in Hebrew and Arabic.

Bar Kokhba (Son of Kokhba) (also Bar Kochba, Bar Kochva, Bar Cochva) is a name of Simon bar Kokhba, the leader of the Bar Kokhba revolt. The Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–136) was the third major rebellion by the Jews of Judaea Province and Eastern Mediterranean against the Roman Empire and the last of the Jewish–Roman Wars. Simon bar Kokhba, the commander of the revolt, was acclaimed as a Messiah, a heroic figure who could restore Israel. The revolt established an independent state of Israel over parts of Judea for more than two years, but a Roman army made up of six full legions with auxiliaries and elements from up to six additional legions finally crushed it. The Romans then barred Jews from Jerusalem, except to attend Tisha B'Av. Although Jewish Christians hailed Jesus as the Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba, they were barred from Jerusalem along with the rest of the Jews. The war and its aftermath helped differentiate Christianity as a religion distinct from Judaism.

ישראל
إسرائيل

Reverse

Wreath of stylized olive branches, denomination and date.

All dates on Israeli coins are given in the Hebrew calendar and are written in Hebrew letters. Hebrew dating formed from a combination of the 22 consonant letters of the Hebrew alphabet and read from right to left.

When the same Pruta series coin was struck by both the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and the Birmingham Mint in Great Britain, to the ICI version a small raised dot - also called "pearl" - was added on the reverse, just below the link near the bottom. Sometimes the pearl almost touches the link, and in other instances the pearl is detached.

25
פרוטה
תש'ט

Edge

25 Prutot

KM# 12
Characteristics
Material Cupronickel
Weight 2.8 g
Diameter 19.5 mm
Thickness 1.32 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mints
Birmingham Mint (H)
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI)

Related coins

Silver, 1.67 g, ⌀ 17.15 mm
Non-magnetic

Cupronickel, 2 g, ⌀ 17.15 mm

Brass, 2 g, ⌀ 17.15 mm