The agorah, Israel’s lowest-denomination coin, was officially withdrawn from circulation Monday.
The tiny copper-and-nickel disk cost more to mint than it was worth, the Bank of Israel explained.
It took 100 agorot to equal one shekel, Israel’s basic unit of exchange, which is worth about 46 U.S. cents at current rates.
The agorah therefore was valued at less than half a U.S. penny. Israeli shopkeepers preferred not to accept it, and their customers didn’t want it in change.
Israel’s smallest coins now are the 5- and 10-agorah denominations.
But while the single agorah is no longer in circulation, banks and major businesses will continue to figure their profits and losses down to the last agorah.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
