It was with a pleasant start that I received my change, including a shiny new 2 shekel coin (my first). Sized between a 1 NIS and a 5 NIS coin, its value is about 50 cents, which is a very practical amount. Since I came to Israel, the 5 and 10 NIS bills have been phased out to be replaced by coins; also gone is the 1 agora coin (worth about 0.25 U.S. cents), with the 5 agora coin (1.25 U.S. cents) scheduled for obselescence next year.

I do foresee that this new coin will take some adjusting  to both mentally (to quickly identify the coin my wallet) and practically (not to make payment mistakes). Actually, considering the question, I think that this 2 NIS coin is going to be a problem for a while. The 1 and 5 NIS coins are so far apart in size that I never would confuse them, despite their sharing a color. But this nice new 2 NIS coin is too close to both of those, and will require a lot more attention to identify. The Bank of Israel claims that the size was a deliberate decision, meant to convey the coins value between 1 and 5 NIS. Oh, well. Remember the Susan B. Anthony dollar? It was always getting confused with a quarter… and died a silent death. I haven’t seen too many Sacagawea coins around, either.

*There’s a word I don’t have much opportunity to use, so please excuse the indulgence.