CURRENCY

Originally, trade was done through barter. The lat term. “pecunia” (currency) is derived from “pecus” (livestock), indicating that the value of goods was originally measured by heads of livestock.

The first pieces of currency were probably issued in the 8th century BC. in Asia Minor, among the Lydians and the Greeks. According to Herodotus (1:94), the Lydians used them since their appearance.

Already from the year 700 to 650 BC. Staters made of a gold and silver alloy called “electron” were officially minted in Lydia (Asia Minor); There were silver coins in Aegina.

In the rest of Western Asia, such as Egypt, gold and silver ingots were used that took various forms, especially rings, and which probably had an imprinted indication of their value; However, these pieces were not issued by any official institution (Josh. 7:21; cf. “kikkãr”, circle, name given to talent).

When a commercial transaction was carried out, there was little confidence in value stamps, so weighing was resorted to (Gen. 23:16; 43:21). (See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES).

Money was counted only in exceptional cases and in an approximate manner (2 Kings 12:10 ff.) At first the “shekel” was not a minted coin but a certain weight (“shekel”) of silver.

The weights were called: “talent”, “maneh”, “shekel”, “gera” and “beka” (half-shekel). Before the time when the Jews issued their own currency the
Allusions to shekels or other weights of precious metals refer to ingots, not to minted pieces of currency.

The introduction of currency into Persia is attributed to Darius Hystaspes (521-486 BC; Herodotus 4:166). The Jews would know her then. The ordinary “daric” (Ezr. 2:69, RVR: “drachmas”) was a heavy gold coin bearing on one side the effigy of the king, with one knee on the ground, and brandishing a bow in one hand, and with a javelin in the other.

On the back appeared a concavity in the shape of an irregular square, undoubtedly the mark of the tool with which the other side had been stamped against the matrix.

At the fall of the Persian Empire, the Greek monetary system prevailed in Judea, with the “talent” and the “drachma” as units (1 Mac. 11:28; 2 Mac. 4:19).

In the year 141-140 BC, Simon Maccabeus obtained the right to mint a national currency having his own seal (1 Mac. 15: 6), a privilege that was soon taken away from him (v. 27).

The small copper coin of John Hyrcanus bears, on the obverse, inside an olive wreath, the inscription “Jehonanan, high priest, and the community of the Jews.”

The reverse has a Greek symbol: a double horn of plenty around a poppy. Herod the Great and his successors (until Herod Agrippa II) minted copper coins, but the inscriptions always appeared in Greek.

Greek coins remained legal tender in Palestine when the Jews had a national currency, drachmas and tetradrachmas. Under Herod and the procurators, the silver drachma (Luke 15:8) was equivalent to a little more than the Roman denarius.

The “stater” or “tetradrachm” (Mt. 17:27) minted by the Greek cities of Syria and Phoenicia depreciated rapidly. The “lepton,” or “white” (Lk. 12:59; 21:2) is not the lepton of the Greeks. The Jews’ lepton, their smallest copper coin, was half the Roman “quadrant” (Mark 12:42).

As it was Jewish currency, probably due to John Hyrcanus or some other Maccabee, the lepton was legal tender in the Temple, where foreign coins were not accepted. The didrachm corresponded to the half shekel (Mt. 17:24), but it did not circulate, or very little, in Palestine.

The Jews used the Attic “talent” (1 Macc. 11:28; Mt. 18:24), which Alexander the Great had set as a standard throughout his empire, and which continued after him.

It was not a piece of currency, but a coin of account divided into “minas” (1 Mac. 14:24; Luke 19:13-25; from the Greek “mnã”). The talent had 60 minas or 6,000 drachmas. The mine, which was worth 100 drachmas, was rapidly devalued under the first Caesars.

When the Romans occupied Palestine, they introduced their currency, the “denarius” (Mt. 18:28), which was made of silver. Under the Empire, the obverse almost always featured the head of the reigning sovereign or a member of the imperial family.

It is impossible to know the real value of these currencies, which suffered various fluctuations, and whose purchasing power was much higher than that of the currencies of our days. Tribute to Caesar was paid in denarii (Mt. 22:19).

The term gr. “assarion” (Mt. 10:29; Lk. 12:6) designated the Roman ace, “sou,” a small copper coin that, in the year 217 BC, was equivalent to 1/16 of a denarius.

The procurators of Judea were empowered to mint coins in the name of the imperial family, although only of copper; The legend was in Greek characters. A coin bears the inscription «Ti. Claudius Caesar Germanicus”, in Greek, on the edge.

On the obverse there are two palms with the inscription “year 14”. The reverse features the name of Empress Julia Agrippina. It was minted in the year 54 AD, during Felix’s time as procurator.

The current currency in NT Palestine was the gold denarius, generally called the “golden” (Ant 14:8, 5), which was equivalent to 25 silver denarii.

During the first rebellion, the Jews minted a national silver coin, and they did the same during the second rebellion (132-135 AD).

After the crushing of the first rebellion, and the taking of Jerusalem (AD 70), Rome minted coins with the effigy and name of Emperor Vespasian; On the reverse there is a captive woman sitting under a palm tree, in a dejected position, and the words “IUDAEA CAPTA” (Judea defeated).

Herod Agrippa II, who reigned over part of Galilee and east of the Jordan, continued to mint copper coins after the fall of Jerusalem.

Some of them, dating from the reign of Titus, have, on the obverse, the head of the emperor, his name and his titles and on the reverse there is a winged victory with a crown and a palm; The inscription says: “26th year of King Agrippa.”

During the second rebellion led by BarKoqueba (132-135 AD), silver shekels and quarter shekels and also copper coins were re-minted, with ancient Hebrew inscriptions.

The obverse of the shekel features a temple with four columns, undoubtedly the stylized design of the Beautiful Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. The name of Simón, the leader of the insurrection, appears on the edges.

It is dominated by a star, an allusion to Simón’s nickname: Bar-Koqueba: “son of a star.” To obtain quarter shekels, Roman denarii were minted; By this time they were worth almost a quarter of a shekel, and could take their place.