1. Standardised Forms Anterior to Coinage
Even prior to the Israelites' occupation of Canaan,
gold and silver were standards of value and medi
ums of exchange in that country. In the Old Tes
tament no other
metals are named in this connection.
The word keseph,
"silver," is the usual He
brew term for money in general (cf.
the Latin argentum),
showing the in
ardized fluence of Babylonia, where silver, the
Forms An- "moon metal," was the basis of the
terior to fiscal system. Coined money was not
Coinage.
known before the Exile; in making
payments the gold or silver was weighed
(Gen. xxiii. 16;
II Sam. xviii. 12;
I Kings xx. 39;
of. the marginal readings). The scales and apper
taining weights were carried in a bag at the girdle
(Deut. xxv. 13;
Isa. xlvi. 6;
Prov. xvi. 11).
This
does not exclude the probability, of course, that
these "pieces of money" were used mostly in pre.
scribed forms, the weight of which was known, and
which,
according*, it was not always necessary to
weigh out expressly. In the Egyptian tribute-lists
and paintings, gold appears in the shape of bars
(cf. Polybius, x., xxvii. 12; Pliny,
Hist. rat.,
XXXIII., iii. 17) and especially rings. The ring
form is perhaps indicated by the use of the He
brew kikkar (" circle ") for talent. Since in
I Sam. ix. 8
the fourth part of a shekel of silver is
mentioned, inference points to a silver piece of defi
nite form. Whether ,keaitah
(Gen. xxxiii. 19;
Josh. xgiv. 32;
Job xlii. 11)
denotes a definite piece of money, or is an otherwise unknown designation of
weight, remains uncertain; and it is
likewise un
certain whether the golden " wedge " or " tongue
rr
of
Josh. vii. 21
was a species of gold bar or an ornament
(but see
Gezer, § 5). These rings or bars
were proportioned according to divisions or mul
tiples of the unit of weight; the gold rings dis
covered in Egypt weigh 4. A, -,
4,
of the stand-
ard mina, that is, 2, 3, 4, 5 standard shekels.
The shekel, the unit of weight, was also the unit
of value (cf. the terms lira, lirore,
pound, as applied to coins). In the course of time, however, this oocasioned practical difficulties in
connection with the conventional ratio of gold to silver. In all
western Asia, this was the standing ratio of 1: 131,
assumed under the influence of astral mythology,
wherein each planet has its own metal. Silver is
moon metal; gold, sun metal; the lunar and solar
revolutions bear the proportion of 27: 360=1 : 13J.
From this it resulted that 1 standard gold shekel =
13 1/3 standard silver shekels, which,
2. The however, was not a ratio that found
Unit of practical currency in the circulation of
Value. gold and silver money. If the gold
Ratio of shekel were made the base of com-
Goldto parison, then the silver unit-had to
Silver. be so modified
that it both stood
in a convenient ratio to the gold
shekel and yet aptly coincided with the weight
system. This was done by making the silver shekel
either i o or
1~
(in value) of the gold shekel;
that is,
A
or
Ili of
L81P-
of a mina (1 gold shekel
_of a silver mina). In the former case the
result was a piece weighing
1'~
of a mina = 10.913
gr., or
A
of a gold shekel in value; in the latter
case
rh
of a mina = 7.275 gr., or
A
of a gold shekel
in value. Both silver units are found in use; and
they both alike bear the name of "shekel," though
having nothing to do with the shekel of weight.
The fifteen-shekel basis was in
use prior to the
Persian era; and this lesser shekel is halved and
quartered
(
Ex. xxx. 13;
I Sam. ix. 8).
A half
shekel (J of
Th
of a mina), in terms of this lesser
shekel,=* of the greater shekel (* X
-4= rh
of a
mina). The greater shekel
(_ A
of a gold shekel)
then came to have currency through the Persian
monetary system. It is subdivided into thirds, for
at this period the temple assessment is
one-third
of a shekel
(
Neh. x. 32).
The Persian monetary
system had for its basis the smaller talent; and the
Persian shekel was half the Babylonian. In the
Maccabean period, the fifteen-shekel basis again
came into current use. In the time of Christ, the
temple tribute was a half-shekel (=2 drachmae,
according to Josephus, Ant. III., viii. 2;
Matt. xvii. 24, 27).
The Maccabean coins are a determining
factor in these questions; the shekels vary in weight
from 14.50 to 14.65 gr.; an amount or value corre
sponding to
rh
of the great Babylonian mina
(14.55 gr.). So the entire scheme of minas and tal
ents was once more adjusted to this twofold basis
of the silver shekel; and specifically the mina to
the equivalent of 50 shekels (see
Weights and Measures).
Stamped coins did not begin to circulate among
the Jews until the Persian period. The earliest ones
named in the Old Testament are the darics
(Ezra
viii. 27,
R. V.;
I Chron. xxix. 7,
R. V.),
3. The by which name is also designated the
Earliest gold stater of Craesus
(
Ezra ii. 69,
Coins. R. V.; the A. V. reads "drams" in
the three passages; Heb.
adharkon
daric,
dorkemon
- drachma). The real darks, i.e.,
the gold piece which Darius Hystaspes made a
national coin, weighed 8.40 gr., or very nearly
-h
of the lighter Babylonian mina. The corresponding
silver coin (Gk. sigW
Madikos) is
mentioned in
Neh. v. 15,
and x. 33, under the ancient name, shekel.
Subsequently, too, Alexander's coins (gold staters
and silver coins) were current in Palestine, and some
of Alexander's
tetradrachmae have been discovered.
They were succeeded, as rulers changed, by the
coins of the Ptolemies and Seleucidse.
By the terms of an edict of Antiothus VII. in
the year 174 of the Seleucidan era (139-135
B.c.;
I Macc. xv. 6),
Simon Maceabeus was authorised to
stamp coins of his own. But whether the coins that
are so frequently ascribed to him, dated
4. Mao- , in the years 1 to 5, belong
to him and
cabean to the era of Jerusalem beginning in
Coins. 143-142
B.c.
(170 of the Seleucidan
era), or whether they did not rather
originate in the years 66-70
A.D.,
is doubtful (cf.
Scharer,
Geschichte, i.
192). There are silver shekels
and half-shekels; on one side is a lily, with the
inscription " Jerusalem the Holy "; on the other, a
cup and the inscription "shekel of Israel," with no
mention of the ruling prince, though the year is
given. Some copper coins of Simon's suors are
known with various designs. The first prince who
had his name stamped on these coins was John
Hyrcanus. The Greek language was first utilised
by Alexander Jannaeus, the Hebrew for " King
Jonathan " appearing with the Greek translation,
BASILEOS ALEXANDROU,
on his coins.
In the Roman period the provinces were licensed
to issue none but copper coins under their own
stamp; so that copper coins are the only ones known
prior to the
Herodian line. The deg. The signs vary,-cups (or vases), anchors,
Roman tripods, three ears (of wheat), etc. No
Time. silver coins were struck again till during
the two insurrections under Ves
pasian and Hadrian. The coins of Eleazar, during
the first insurrection,
bear on the obverse a pitcher,
on the reverse a cluster of grapes, and are dated
according to the "Years of Israel's Liberation."
Bar-Kokba's coins show similar notation of date,
and bear the name "Simon." In many instances
the new Jewish stamp is simply imprinted upon old
Roman denarii. Even down to the latest period
the larger
plate of Palestine retained the right to
stamp small coin (cf. the coins of Hadrian's time
with the inscription Alia CapiWina, i.e., Jerusa
lem).
Collaterally with the Jewish, the Greek and Roman coins were continually in use. The New Testament mentions the
drachma
(_ I
shekel;
Luke
xv. 8);
the double drachma or didrach6. Coins of
»Ia
(Matt. xvii. 24);
the atattr (acthe New cording to
Matt. xvii. 27,
where it is
Testament made the temple tax for two persons,
=4 Attic drachmae _ 1 shekel); the
lepton (_ the Roman
quadrana,
Mark xii. 42;
Luke xii. 59);
and, of Roman coins, the denarim
(Matt. xxii. 19;
Mark xii. 15),
the universal monetary unit in the Roman Empire, a silver coin of
3.898 gr., which was made legally equivalent in
value to the Attic drachma;
the as or
asearion
(Matt. x. 29;
Luke xii. 6),
a copper coin _ of a
denarius; and the
quadrans
(Matt.
V.
26; Mu zii.
42)
_ I
of an assarion.
The bullion value of all these coins may easily be
calculated, but this tells nothing in respect to the
money's purchasing-power. Nor do many data of
comparison exist to determine the latter factor.
Joseph was sold for twenty shekels, and
to
other
cases a slave is valued at thirty shekels
(Ex. xxi. 32;
cf.
Hos. iii. 2;
Matt. xxvi. 15);
at a later time,
slaves were considerably dearer
(II Macc. viii. 11).
