Baron Edmond de Rothschild & 44 Settlement Names 1/2 Sheqel Israel Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making

Baron Edmond de Rothschild & 44 Settlement Names 1/2 Sheqel Israel Authentic Coin Money for Jewelry and Craft Making

Commemorative issue: Edmond de Rothschild

Obverse: An image of Baron Edmond de Rothschild on a background formed by the names of 44 settlements in the Land of Israel.
Lettering: אדמונד דה רוטשילד

Reverse: "Israel" in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Date in Hebrew.
Lettering: 1/2 שקל חדש NEW SHEQEL
اسرائيل ISRAEL התשמ"ו ישראל

Features
Issuer Israel
Period State of Israel (1948-date)
Type Circulating commemorative coin
Year 5746 (1986)
Calendar Hebrew
Value 1/2 New Sheqel
0.50 ILS = 0.16 USD
Currency New Shekel (1986-date)
Composition Aluminium-bronze
Weight 6.5 g
Diameter 26 mm
Thickness 1.85 mm
Shape Round
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Number N# 2055
References KM# 167

Wikipedia:
Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (Hebrew: הברון אברהם אדמונד בנימין ג'יימס רוטשילד - HaBron Avraham Edmond Benyamin Jaakov Rothschild; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Zionism, his large donations lent significant support to the movement during its early years, which helped lead to the establishment of the State of Israel, where he is simply known as "the baron Rothschild", "HaBaron", or "Hanadiv" (Eng: The generous one).

.....He became a leading proponent of the Zionist movement, financing the first site at Rishon LeZion. In his goal for the establishment of a Jewish homeland, he promoted industrialization and economic development. In 1924, he established the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA), which acquired more than 125,000 acres (50,586 ha) of land and set up business ventures.

Edmond de Rothschild also played a pivotal role in Israel's wine industry. Under the supervision of his administrators in Ottoman Palestine, farm colonies and vineyards were established, and two major wineries were opened in Rishon LeZion and Zikhron Ya'akov. It is estimated[by whom?] that Rothschild spent over $50 million in supporting the settlements and backed research in electricity by engineers and financed development of an electric generating station.

Rothschild funded a glass factory that would supply bottles for his wineries. Rothschild met Meir Dizengoff in Paris and chose Dizengoff to launch and manage the new factory, called Mizaga. Dizengoff opened the factory in Tantura in 1892 and managed the factory for approximately two years. Mizaga was the first Jewish-owned factory in Ottoman Palestine.

Jews and Arabs lived amicably on Rothschild's land, with no Arab grievances, even in the worst periods of disturbance. According to historian Albert M. Hyamson, "Rothschild recognised that the overriding interest of the Jews of Palestine was the confidence and the friendship of their Arab neighbours. The interests of the Arab cultivators of the land he bought were never overlooked, but by development he made this land capable of maintaining a population ten times its former size." While Edmond de Rothschild was not always supportive of an inclusive government - he suggested in 1931 to Judah Magnes that "We must hold them (the Arabs) down with a strong hand" - he acknowledged the importance of co-governance and peaceful coexistence in a 1934 letter to the League of Nations, stating that "the struggle to put an end to the Wandering Jew, could not have as its result, the creation of the Wandering Arab."