Anglo-Palestine Check for 5 Francs, 1914.

The top of the check is signed by the bank managers: Zalman ...

Anglo-Palestine Check for 5 Francs, 1914.

The top of the check is signed by the bank managers: Zalman David Levontin (general manager for Israel and Syria 1902-1924) and Eliezer Siegfried Hoofien (general manager 1912-1947).

The check was converted by Menashe Meirovitch (the well-known Bilu and director of the Vinemakers Association) and Mordechai Segal (the chief bookkeeper and member of the management of the Vinegrowers Association), together with the stamp of the Vinegrowers Association - Societe Cooperative Vigneronne Des Grandes Caves Richon Le Zion Zicron Jacob.

Jaffa branch stamp.

At the beginning of the First World War there was a shortage of means of payment in the Land of Israel.

To overcome this shortage, Anglo-Palestine Company, the first incarnation of Bank Leumi, issued a substitute in the form of - registered checks.

The bank gave permission to its customers to withdraw on it in round amounts using regular check forms on which the amounts were printed.

The checks converted by the beneficiaries were made negotiable, put into circulation and turned into banknotes for all intents and purposes.

The registered cheques were received with great confidence by the public.

After the war, all these checks were paid by the bank. Today they are very rare.

The checks were registered to the order of various public figures and were converted by them.

The issue of these checks bypassed the issuance monopoly of the Ottoman State Bank, and was a violation of the law.

On January 15, 1915, Jamel Pesha, who was the head of the administration in Israel, ordered all the registered checks to be handed over to the officials of the Authority so that they could collect their proceeds from the bank.

His order remained a dead letter, and the threat of severe penalties did not stop the use of checks.

In total, registered checks totaling 1,500 Francs were delivered to the Ottoman government out of an estimated turnover of approximately one million Francs.