The shekel sign (₪) is a currency sign used for the Israeli new shekel, which is the

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Israeli new shekel (1986–present)

The Israeli new shekel is denoted in he, שקל חדש (''šéqel ħadáš'', , lit. "New Shekel") or by the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

he, ש ״ח (). The symbol was announced officially on 22 September 1985, when the first new shekel banknotes and coins were introduced. It is constructed by combining the two Hebrew letters that constitute the acronym (the first letter of each of the two words, Hebrew being written from right to left): " ש" and " ח". Sometimes the "₪" symbol (Unicode 20AA) is used following the number, other times the acronym he, ש״ח. The shekel sign, like the

dollar sign The dollar sign, also known as peso sign, is a symbol consisting of a capital " S" crossed with one or two vertical strokes ($ or ), used to indicate the unit of various currencies around the world, including most currencies denominated "p ...

("$"), is usually placed left of the number (i.e. "₪12,000" and not "12,000₪"), but since Hebrew is written from right to left, this means that the symbol is actually written after the number. It is either not separated from the preceding number, or is separated only by a

thin space In typography, a thin space is a space character whose width is usually or of an em. It is used to add a narrow space, such as between nested quotation marks or to separate glyphs that interfere with one another. It is not as narrow as the hai ...

. Unlike the dollar sign, the new shekel sign is not used that often when handwriting monetary amounts. The road sign announcing the entrance to an Israeli toll road, such as

Highway 6 Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * Asian Highway 6 * European route E6 * European route E006 Albania * National Road SH6 Argentina * Buenos Aires Provincial Route 6 Australia New ...

or the

Carmel Tunnels Highway 23, more-commonly known as the "Carmel Tunnels" ( he, מנהרות הכרמל, ''Minharot HaCarmel''), are a set of toll tunnels in Haifa, Israel. The tunnels' purpose is to reduce road congestion in the Haifa area and to provide an alt ...

, is a shekel symbol with a road in the background.

Unicode and input

The symbol has the

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...

code point . It has been in Unicode since June 1993, version 1.1.0. Using the standard Hebrew keyboard (SI 1452), it must be typed as (the letter ש appears on the same key in regular Hebrew mode). The Shekel sign, however, is not engraved on most keyboards sold in Israel and the sign is rarely used in day-to-day typing. * On systems with the

Hebrew keyboard A Hebrew keyboard (Hebrew: ''mikledet ivrit'') comes in two different keyboard layouts. Most Hebrew keyboards are bilingual, with Latin characters, usually in a US Qwerty layout. Trilingual keyboard options also exist, with the third script ...

layout set, it can be typed on modern Microsoft Windows, desktop

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

and

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by using . ( makes the dollar sign and is used to type shva.) * On most Unix heritage systems, it can be entered by holding down Ctrl+Shift+u (an underlined u will appear), releasing and then typing the Unicode code point then or , irrespective of keyboard setting. * On

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

it can be typed as when the system is set to a Hebrew keyboard layout.

Old Israeli shekel (1980–1985)

The

old Israeli shekel The old Israeli shekel, then known as the shekel ( he, שקל, formally ''sheqel'', . , ''Sheqalim''; ar, شيكل, ''šēkal,'' formerly ar, شيقل'', šēqal'' until 2014; code ) was the currency of the State of Israel between 24 February 1 ...

, "", in circulation between 1980 and 1985, had a different symbol, which was officially announced on 18 March 1980. Before the introduction of the old shekel in 1980, there was no special symbol for the Israeli currency. It was a stylized Shin shaped like a cradle (i.e. rounded and opening upward). This symbol appeared on checks issued by Israeli banks between 1980 and 1985.https://rfa.justice.gov.il/SearchPredefinedApi/Documents/mffCJsyXCkc9j5~8JYEGOpm9XUXmAjjzBQU8LqxVdFM= Quoting prices in new shekels started officially on 1 January 1986, and the old shekel checks remaining unused had to be stamped with the new shekel symbol over the old symbol.

Notes

References

{{Hebrew language Symbols introduced in 1980 Symbols introduced in 1986 Currency symbols

Israeli new shekel (1986–present)

Unicode and input

Old Israeli shekel (1980–1985)

See also

Notes

References