● One of the smallest coins in circulation in first-century Palestine was the copper lepton, also known as a mite. A laborer would earn two lepta in just 15 minutes. It was likely two lepta that the widow dropped into the temple treasury chest.—Mark 12:42.
It was probably made out of some bronze or cheap metal that had little if any precious metal value. It was probably more like a token. Lepta may have looked like this:
● The silver drachma was a Greek coin that took almost a full day’s labor to earn. (Luke 15:8, 9) Two drachmas was the amount all Jewish men paid yearly as a temple tax.—Matthew 17:24.
● The silver denarius was a Roman coin that bore the image of Caesar, so it was ideally suited to serve as “the tribute” coin exacted from every adult Jewish male during the Roman occupation. (Romans 13:7) An employer would pay a laborer one denarius for a 12-hour workday.—Matthew 20:2-14.
● A pure silver shekel made in the city of Tyre circulated in Palestine during the time Jesus was on earth. The 30 “silver pieces” that the chief priests paid to Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Jesus may have been Tyrian shekels.—Matthew 26:14-16.
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