The Bank of Israel on Tuesday revealed that the new 20 and 100 shekel bills, which feature the portraits of prominent Hebrew-language female poets, have reached the final design stages.

The NIS 20 bill is red and will be imprinted with the image of Rachel Bluwstein Sela—commonly known as Rachel the Poetess—and the NIS 100 bill is orange and will feature the portrait of Leah Goldberg, one of Israel’s most beloved poets and writers.

Originally planned to begin circulation in 2016, the new banknotes will join the redesigned NIS 50 and NIS 200 bills, released in 2014 and 2015, which feature the images of poets Shaul Tchernichovsky and Nathan Alterman. Like the 50 and 200, the new notes will incorporate advanced technology.

The images imprinted on all the new bills were decided in 2012 by former governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer.

Each bill is to be distinctive in color and length to aid the blind and those with impaired vision in identifying the banknote values better.

Though the portrait of former Prime Minister Golda Meir, Israel’s first and only female prime minister, was featured on the NIS 10 bill, which was issued in 1985 and circulated until the 1990s, there have been no images of women featured on Israeli currency since.

Additional details regarding the launch date of the two remaining denominations, the security features embedded in them and timetables for the replacement of existing banknotes with the new banknotes will be provided by the Bank of Israel in the near future.

The printing work of the new denominations will cost the state NIS 716 million (about $198 million).

By Zeev Klein/Israel Hayom.com