Coins that are mentioned in the Bible.

A number of you are aware that there are a number of coins that are mentioned in the Bible.As I am a Protestant in the Church of England,I am very interested in finding out about the coins that are mentioned in the Bible.If you have any information,can you please leave a posting including photos of the coin(s),& which Book(s) & verses in the Bible the coin(s) is mentioned in?

I have heard of the Widow's Mite,which is believed to be an ancient Judean copper Prutah that depicts a lily on the obverse & an 8-rayed star.This coin was issued during the reign of King Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC).

The Tribute Penny is believed to be a Roman silver Denarius issued during the reign of Emperor Tiberius,which has a seated figure on the reverse with the inscription 'PONTIF MAXIM',which is short for 'Pontifex Maximus' or 'High Priest' (a title that is still used by the Popes of Rome).

The 30 Pieces of Silver which was paid to Judas is believed to have been
the silver Shekel of Tyre.Can anyone else confirm this?

Aidan.

 

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i have a coin with 'PONTIF MAXIM', with the seated man?on the other side i cant quite make out what the picture is some sort of animal?the printing around is- avcfaycystvs -and ticaesarddiyi - or close as i can make it out ?
let me know if any one knows anything on it,it sounds and feels silver. thanks

 

Since the King James version of the Bible was written in 1611 or so, and you do see reference to then contemporary coinage in Britain ie penny. However I have always looked for a shilling or a crown to slip in somewhere

Nuff of this penny annie stuff, I want big coins

 

Nice to see someone else is collecting coins on a religious level! Good on yer and good luck too!

 

Slightly off topic, but this is a Russian coin which was modelled after a very devoted man, Paul I. He was too religious that the coin design just looks awful but you can get a feel that it's somewhat... well I guess "religious"



Plain and simple and if you look at the reverse, it states "not to us, not to us, but to thyself" By that, I am sure it's a religious text...

And such, these coins didn't last too long, from 1797 - 1801.

 

Yay!...Another excuse to post some photos,at least from the time of Jesus.
1.)Herod Agrippa:Became ruler of Judea after the death of Herod The Great in 37AD shortly after the crucifixion but IS mentioned in the Bible (Luke, Acts of the apostles 12.19b-23)
2.)Widoow's mite of Alexander Jannaeus,mentioned by Jesus (Mark 12:41-44)
3.)Caesar Augustus,Emperor during birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1)
4.)Tiberius,this is probably the "biblical tribute" coin mentioned by Jesus (Mark 12:13-17)
5.)Pontius Pilate,put Jesus on trial and ordered his death.(John 18:33-19:12)

Sorry Aidan,I'm working on a shekel of Tyre,but the're a bit pricey I think.
Incidently,the seated figure on the reverse of Tiberius' coins is almost always his mother Livia portraying the goddess PAX.Talk about momma's boys.
As for the Widow's mites,they featured either a lily OR the 8-point star obverse and a Seleucid anchor on the reverse.

 

Here's a runner up for being the "widows mite" mentioned in the Bible.Incidently,these coins were already about 100 years old at the time of Jesus but were still widely in circulation,which is why it is most often thought to be the one mentined in the story.The most common one was the star/anchor design in my first post,this one being a bit rarer.

 

Those are pretty coins. Is this the coin you are talking about, the shekel? Not my coin btw, found pictures online through google.

 

zaneman,
Yes,that's the one,supposedly the 30 pieces of silver (or was it 40?) given to Judas for his betrayal.
Aidan,here is the Tiberius reverse,just as you described.

 

Tribute Penny Denarius.

Mikjo0,yes,that is a Tribute Penny Denarius.

Aidan.

 

Mikjo0 if you don't mind me asking, do you a source as to where I can get those holders? I'm pretty sure you insert the writing yourself, but they seem like nice little display holders.

 

Shekels of Tyre.

These are very similar in design to the ancient Egyptian Tetradrachm,but have a different legend in Greek,which is very uncertain to me.The ancient Egyptian coins have the name 'Alexandropolis' (for Alexandria),as the Ptolemaic Dynasty were Greek in both language & culture.

Aidan.

 

zaneman,
bottom of this page to order the holders I use...I like them a lot!The black inserts I use for smaller coins are from Airtight holders,they fit pefectly into either Sacagewea or Half dollar holder depending on size.
http://www.whitmanbooks.com/default.aspx?page=80&subcatoid=17

 

A couple of years ago I got an fairly beat up Alexander Jannaeus coin out of a dealers junk box for about the equivalent of 15¢ US. It is one of my earliest finds in a junk box, and one of my most interesting. The 8 pointed star on the one side was the clue that it was something from Judea.

 

Krasnaya,
They are incredibly difficult to find in decent shape.I held out until I found one that was actually ROUND(ish) and not corroded beyond recognition,but you might notice that it is still missing one point on the star..I give it a 7
Here is a pic of the obv.it's supposed to be an anchor,upside down but kinda looks like a tree.

 

Wow! Thanks for the pictures! Since I revived my numismatic hobby last few months I've been daydreaming during church service from time to time: "What would the biblical coins look like?"

 

I just remembered that although I don't have a shekel of Tyre,I DO have one of Byblos Phoenecia,the city that gave us the word for bible.As you can see it is not exactly a massive piece of silver.1/8th shekel to be exact.
The obverse is a lion attacking a bull and the reverse is a ship full of mercenaries with two-headed sea serpent in the water below.

 

Biju,this section will interest you.

Aidan.

 

Sure it is interesting Aidan... :smile

 

Steve,we all know that you like historic coins.

Aidan.