Meet the two-shekel coin, coming soon to a wallet near yours. Today the first, small, shipment of the coin arrived at the Bank of Israel for technical inspections.

Technical inspections include weight and diameter. The Bank of Israel also provides the coin for inspection companies that operate vending machines.

The coin will be minted to the general public in the last quarter of 2007.

Before deciding to mint the new coin, the Bank of Israel conducted surveys among the public and sectors that commonly use cash, such as taxi companies and banks. It found widespread support for the two-shekel coin.

The process of issuing the new coin actually began in 2004.

Israel has no mint of its own. Bills are flown in by air and coins are shipped in containers by sea.