פירות וירוקות

[arpad]

Two shekels coin was recently introduced in Israel. I certainly have no problem with the fact that Israel has no mint of its own. Bills are flown in by air and coins are shipped in containers by sea. They say that the coins are produced in South Korea. Not sure about bills. What I do have a problem with - is the design of this thing. Yeah, it looked OK in bronze two thousand years ago. But cast in modern nickel it looks like a total crap.. And looking at old Israel coins I definitely can say that there are lots of well designed coins here. Well, at least it will actually be useful - 1,5 & 10 shekel were a bad combo. Something should help to close the gaps .

Comments

[iz-kustov-ved.livejournal.com]

Are the designers also from Korea? =)
And how do they choose the designer? Is it a kind of mafia?

[arpad.livejournal.com]

>Are the designers also from Korea? =)

I am pretty sure they aren't :)

>And how do they choose the designer? Is it a kind of mafia?

Not my field, so I don't know exactly. I suppose some competition takes place. I suppose some mafia too - art games are like that...

[iz-kustov-ved.livejournal.com]

As well as I know, sometimes a mint makes "full cycle" from sketch to coin, like Pobjoy mint (http://www.pobjoy.com).

This is Me on LJ; That's me on my Jewish Philanthropy Blog

[crossingthesea.livejournal.com]

Hey Arpad, the "they say" (that being me) is quoting from Wikipedia regarding the information about Israeli currency being minted in South Korea.

You can read more about how the design was chosen and what it represents by clicking on the first link above.

On an amusing note, there is a new movement trying to get the two shekel coined nicknamed the "shnekel," which actually makes some sense when you look at the structure of Israeli grammar. Also, I think it would create a lot of laughter in this part of the world as it is fun to say (try it).

Thanks for quoting me.

Maya Norton
The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy
http://TheNewJew.wordpress.com

[wildernesscat.livejournal.com]

Have you held this shnekel thing in your hand? Feels like a forgery. The coin is very thin and light.

[arpad.livejournal.com]

I am pretty sure that concept is developed here. I don't know where they cut the cycle to outsource the rest.