The name agora refers to the subunits of three distinct Israeli currencies.
This name was used for the first time in 1960, when the Israeli government decided to change the subdivision of the Israeli pound (Hebrew: לירה, lira) from 1,000 prutah to 100 agorot due to the currency's depreciation.[2] The name was suggested by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, and was borrowed from the Hebrew Bible:
...every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread...
— I Samuel 2:36
The term "piece of silver" appears in Hebrew as "agorat kessef".
In 1980 the Israeli pound was replaced by the shekel at a rate of IL10 per IS 1. The new subdivision of the shekel was named agora ẖadaša ("new agora"). There were 100 new agorot in 1 shekel. The high rate of inflation in Israel in the early 1980s forced the Israeli government to change the Israeli currency once again in 1985. The new shekel was introduced at a rate of 1000 S per 1 NS. The name agora was used once again for its subdivision. This time the term "new" was avoided, in order to prevent confusion with the older subdivision (the pre-1980 agora was long since out of circulation).
Currently, the term agora refers to the 100th part of the new shekel. There are coins of 10 and 50 agorot, though the 50 agorot coin bears the inscription: "1⁄2 New Shekel".
The 1 agora coin was withdrawn from circulation on April 1, 1991 by the Bank of Israel,[3] as was the 5 agorot coin on January 1, 2008; in each case the value had shrunk to much less than the cost of production. Cash rounding has since been applied for purchases, such that the total price is now rounded to the nearest multiple of 10 agorot for payment in cash, but to 1 agora for payment by other means like payment cards or cheques.
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