50 Pounds 1955, Israel
| in Krause book | Number: 28a |
| Years of issue: | 19.09.1957 |
| Edition: | -- |
| Signatures: | Governor of the Bank: Mr. David Horowitz; Chairman of the Advisory Council: Mr. S. Hoofien |
| Serie: | The first series of Israeli lira 1955 |
| Specimen of: | 19.09.1957 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 160 x 87 |
| Printer: | TDLR (Thomas de la Rue & Company), London |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Seven-branched candelabrum with an imprint of oleander (menorah).
Avers:
On banknote is the road to Jerusalem at Sha'ar HaGai. a point on the Tel-Aviv - Jerusalem highway (Highway №1), 23 km. from Jerusalem, where the road begins to ascend steeply into a gorge between cliffs.
For the design of the banknote the artist used a photograph, made in 1953, when Highway №1 (as it is called today) was still nothing more than a twisting country lane.
Bab El-Wad ("Sha'ar Ha-gai", باب الوادي, "The Gate of the Valley") is The entrance from the Shefela going up the Judean mountains to Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, 23 km. from Jerusalem.
During the 1947-48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and into the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, this area and the nearby police fort at Latrun saw fierce fighting between Arab forces and Jewish convoys on the way to blockaded Jerusalem. Bab al-Wad changed hands between the so-called Arab Liberation Army supported by Arab irregulars, and Jewish Palmach and Haganah units, until April 20 1948, when the Arabs recaptured the heights around Bab al-Wad closing off the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road.
From mid-May 1948 on, the fort at Latrun, only 2 kilometers west of Bab al-Wad, was held by the very efficient, British-trained and commanded army of Transjordan, the so-called Arab Legion. The Palmach's 10th (Harel) brigade under the command of Lt. Col. Yitzhak Rabin, future prime minister of Israel, managed to capture Bab al-Wad itself, but the road section west of it, controlled from Latrun, remained in Jordanian hands until 1967, cutting off this main access route to Jerusalem. In order to bypass the Arab-held bottleneck, the Israelis constructed the so-called "Burma Road", named after the famous World War II road into China. This very steep bypass road was in use during the first, crucial part of the war, being replaced after just six months by a longer but safer detour route.
After the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, when the Latrun area was captured by Israel, the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway was once again constructed on the shortest route past Latrun and Sha'ar HaGai. Today's already four-lane wide Highway 1 is currently (2014) being widened due to increasing traffic, by further carving into the slopes of the Wadi Ali gorge.
To this day, the remains of armored cars that belonged to Jewish convoys and were destroyed during the 1948 war are lining the route as a memorial to the war dead.
In a park south of the main road is the Mahal Memorial Monument, which commemorates the ca. 4000 Jewish and non-Jewish military volunteers who came from abroad to help with the creation of the Jewish state in 1947-1948, of which 119 lost their lives during the war. 
The same Highway №1 after Jerusalem goes to Jericho. With this section of the road were related other historical events, and I will, certainly, tell about it.
The road from Jericho to Jerusalem.
Parable of the Good Samaritan.
The parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable told by Jesus and is mentioned in only one of the gospels of the New Testament. According to the Gospel of Luke (10:29-37) a traveller (who may or may not have been a Jew) is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan comes by. Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the injured man. Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to a question regarding the identity of the "neighbour", who Leviticus 19:18 says should be loved.
In the time of Jesus, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notorious for its danger and difficulty, and was known as the "Way of Blood" because "of the blood which is often shed there by robbers". Martin Luther King, Jr., in his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, on the day before his death, described the road as follows:
"I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about twelve hundred feet above sea level [actually about 2100 feet or 640 meters. And by the time you get down to Jericho fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about twenty-two feet [7 m] below sea level [actually 846 feet or 258 meters]. That's a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the "Bloody Pass." And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking, and he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked, the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?
However, King continues:
"But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
On the left side is the orange tree branch with an oranges.
Slightly to the right of oranges is a cypress.
The Cypress is a tall and erect coniferous evergreen tree. It may reach a height of 25 meters. It is very common in boulevards, ornamental gardens, planted forests, cemeteries and as a windbreaker around plantations. Herzl’s cypress tree, which was planted by Herzl at Motza, is also a Funeral Cypress. Isolated remains indicate that the cypress grew wild in Israel. Wild cypress remains were found in the Galilee (Kziv Stream), on Mount Hermon, Gilead and Edom. In Crete there are wild cypress trees that are believed to be 450 years old, and in Israel there is a planted individual tree that is approximately 230 years old. It is difficult to assess its age by the annual xylem rings, because it may form several pseudo-rings within one year which do not encircle its trunk entirely.
The Hebrew name is biblical, although it is not certain that the bible referred to the same species.
In top right corner is Nerium oleander.
In nature meets different colored (white, pink, red, yellowish). On banknote is the most common color - pink.
It is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, potentially toxic in all its parts. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium. It is most commonly known as oleander, from its superficial resemblance to the unrelated olive Olea. It is so widely cultivated that no precise region of origin has been identified, though southwest Asia has been suggested. The ancient city of Volubilis in Morocco may have taken its name from the Berber name "oualilt" for the flower. Oleander is one of the most poisonous of commonly grown garden plants.
The denomination "Fifty Israeli Pounds" and "Bank of Israel" in Hebrew.
Revers:
An abstract design; the denomination "Fifty Israeli Pounds" and "Bank of Israel" in Arabic and English.
Comments:
First own money the state of Israel. At the initiative of the first Governor of the Bank of Israel David Horowitz, and with the assistance of a special committee chaired by S.Hufien, developed the first series of Israeli banknotes. The Committee decided to use in the design of banknotes the Israeli landscapes. The design of banknotes was entrusted by the artists of TDLR (banknotes were printed at its factory).
Put into circulation on September 19, 1957.
Withdrawn March 31, 1984.
Exists with red and black serial number.
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