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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;philologus_1, post: 25990835, member: 92212&quot;]The coins are apparently all of the <i>prutah</i> size.&nbsp; (Using the plural: Apparently all the coins are <u><i>prutot</i></u>.)&nbsp; The news article linked in the O.P. (along with other news reports I&#039;ve read), state that the coins are dated year 25 of Jannaeus&#039; reign.&nbsp; There is only one coin type dated year 25, and that is Hendin 6191, which is indeed a prutah type that matches the 4 enlarged-view coins shown in the bottom of the O.P. top photo.</p><p><br /></p><p>Are they &quot;widow&#039;s mites&quot;? Many would say &#039;yes&#039;.&nbsp; But I would say, &#039;probably not&#039;. Here is why: The &#039;prutah&#039; is <u>not</u> the smallest size bronze coin that circulated in the days of Jesus&#039; ministry. The smallest was the &#039;lepton&#039; (plural = &#039;lepta&#039;).&nbsp; The original Greek word used in Scripture to identify the small coin which the widow gave was <i>leptos</i>. (This is true in both Mark 12:42 and Luke 21:2.)&nbsp; See the CLOSE connection between &#039;lepton&#039; and &#039;<i>leptos</i>&#039;? Further, Mark 12:42 elaborates on the &#039;<i>leptos</i>&#039; by adding that it took 2 of that size of coin to make the next larger coin.&nbsp; (It took two <i>lepta</i> to make one &#039;prutah&#039; (because a lepton is a half-prutah)).&nbsp; All of that is to say this: Based on the Greek language text and on the content of Mark&#039;s elaboration, I strongly suspect the widow gave two &#039;lepta&#039;, not two &#039;prutot&#039;.&nbsp; And it therefore follows, I would hold that a true &quot;mite&quot; would be a &#039;lepton&#039;, not a &#039;prutah&#039;.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you are familiar with the Greek New Testament&#039;s telling of the narrative of that widow giving all she had, you also know that the &quot;mite = lepton&quot; theory rubs shoulders with the question of whether a full &#039;prutah&#039; was equal to a full &#039;quadrans&#039;. I&#039;m almost late for an appointment so I cannot get into that, but I think you know my bottom-line on that, too. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Two more quick thoughts:</p><p><br /></p><p>As encrusted as some of the coins are in the top photo, I&#039;m not sure if they really yet know for sure that &quot;<u>all</u>&quot; of the coins are dated year 25.</p><p><br /></p><p>The news article linked in the O.P. (and some other news reports I&#039;ve read) state that the coin type itself is &quot;rare&quot;.&nbsp; But it is actually quite common, and is rated as such by David Hendin and also by Oliver Hoover.&nbsp; (But finding that many coins together is indeed an awesome find and a rare occurrence!)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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