What Can I do With my 5 Agarot Coins?

QUESTION:

Does anyone know whether the 5 agarot coins can still be used or if there is anything we can do with them? Do they have any value still?

ANSWER:

As the Bank of Israel is like the Federal Reserve Bank, they are responsible for printing and coining the money.

The Bank of Israel will accept them, as they will all coins.
The coins have to be sorted and bagged in lots of 500 (i.e. NIS 25 worth of 5 agorot coins).
You can redeem them at the Bank of Israel but you have to make an appointment.

The telephone number is (02) 655-2847.

Call between 2-4 pm (they're kind of particular). It takes about 10 days to get an appointment (appointment are between 8:30 - 2).

It's s bit of a pain but they're the only place that will take them without any argument or service fees.

For other creative ideas:

1) Women who light candles using those little glass holders (that look like a little shot glass with a stem) put a 5-agarot piece down at the bottom before placing the candle into the glass.  It helps to separate the hot candle from the glass, I guess, to prevent the glass from cracking.  I used to use this candle-lighting method (now I only use them on Sukkot when lighting outside).  The packages in which the glass holders come used to include 5-agarot pieces for this purpose, believe it or not.

2) Wash the coins from a hygiene point of view and you can use them for games with your kids. They are wonderful for playing supermarket or sorting, counting into piles of 5 or 10. You can be creative and find ways to help your kids "work" with the money. In this way you can help to improve fine motor skills, counting and basics for maths, increasing an interest in maths concepts. The value of using coins that are real but not usable with your kids is that they help the children  feel they are really using money, and yet if a coin falls somewhere that it gets lost, you need not get upset as it is a coin that would not be usable otherwise. Kids can also learn to put the coins in the Tzeddakah jar, with their right hand.

If you have other coins from other countries that you can not use, you can put them in a jar or dish and have your child sort them into similar types of coins. This helps them to develop a sense of detail, sorting the same size, shape, colour, texture. Also wonderful for helping kids with low vision or blind to improve their ability to differentiate by feel, very important for begining to learn money management skills.

Hatzlachah

Shoshanah Shear

Occupational Therapist