Date Systems: Israel

שָׁלוֹם This article contains Hebrew text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hebrew letters.

Isreali coins use the Hebrew calendar, which uses the Anno Mundi epoch (AM) and which the new year occurs approximately mid-September. Therefore, a Hebrew year contains roughly the last quarter of a Gregorian year and the first three quarters of the next.

Step 1

Hebrew dates are read right to left and use Hebrew numerals. Using the table below, locate a series of numerals, notated by a single quote (geresh) or double quote (gershayim) to the right of the left-most digit.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
ק ר ש ת ך ם ן ף ץ

Step 2

Typically the thousands place is omitted, but is notated by the date having two sets of quotes: the digit(s) after the right-most quote being the thousands place. If omitted, 5000 is assumed. To calculate the date, add all the remaining digits together, along with the thousands place. Keep in mind, numbers above 400 are usually represented by adding two of the 100-400 digits together. See the examples below.

Characters Math Hebrew year Gregorian years
ה׳תש״ח 8 + 300 + 400 + 5000 AM5708 AD1947 - AD1948
תש״ח 8 + 300 + 400 (+ 5000) AM5708 AD1947 - AD1948
תשס״ט 9 + 60 + 300 + 400 (+ 5000) AM5769 AD2008 - AD2009

Step 3

The year from Step 2 should be AM5708 or later, as that is the year of Israeli independence (May 14, 1948). Subtract 3761 from the Hebrew year to get the earliest Gregorian year. Remember, the Hebrew year will span into most of the next Gregorian year (3760 less).