Identifer: CJF-RFC2015327

Medium
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Description
This is a Haganah Defense Token with the value of ½ mil.  It was issued in 1938 by Kofer Hayeshuv and it is Type C
 
IN PALESTINE IN THE LATE 1930'S AND 40'S UP TILL THE END OF THE BRITISH MANDATE, WITH THE ARAB UPRISINGS OF 1936, AND THE ARAB POPULATION OUTNUMBERING THE JEWISH TWO TO ONE, THE JEWISH DEFENCE FORCES "Haganah" DESPERATELY NEEDED FUNDS IN ORDER TO DEFEND THE JEWISH SETTLEMENTS.

A COMMITTEE OF FIVE WAS SET UP WITH THE TASK OF FORMING A SYSTEM OF COLLECTING DIRECT AND INDIRECT TAXES FROM THE JEWISH POPULATION. THE IDEA OF A 1/2 MIL COIN CAME ABOUT, WHICH WAS SMALLER THAN THE SMALLEST OFFICIAL DENOMINATION AT THE TIME, THE 1 MIL. HAGANAH REPRESENTATIVES WOULD COLLECT A 1 MIL TAX FROM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SUCH AS CIGARETTES, THEATRE TICKETS, AND CERTAIN NON-ESSENTIAL FOODS, AND GIVE THE 1/2 MIL TOKEN AS CHANGE. THE TOKENS BEAR THE DATE 1938 (in Hebrew), AND WERE MINTED IN HOLON (a city near Tel Aviv - Israel).

ODDLY ENOUGH, THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT DID NOT OBJECT TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF THESE TOKENS.

AS THE TOKENS WERE MINTED THREE AT A TIME, THERE ARE THREE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT DIES, they are designated Type A, B and C