THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE
 
 BY-PATHS 
 
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 BIBLE KNOWLEDGE 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 
 
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 RECENT DISCOVERIES ON THE 
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 AND PEOPLE. By A. H. SAYCE, 
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 THE DWELLERS ON THE NILE. 
 By E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, M.A. 3 
 
 THE DISEASES OF THE BIBLE. 
 By Sir J. RISDON BENNETT, M.D., 
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 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE
 
 HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
 
 Simon Bar-Cochatf
 
 of iStble Bnofolrtrge 
 
 XX * 
 
 THE 
 
 MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS WOODCUTS 
 AND FACSIMILE REPRESENTATIONS 
 
 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE C. WILLIAMSON 
 
 D.LIT., MEMB. NUM.'SOC. LOND., ETC. 
 AUTHOR OF 'TRADE TOKENS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY,' ETC. 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 
 56 PATERNOSTER ROW AND 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD 
 
 1894
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THIS little book does not claim to be anything 
 more than a hand-book for the Bible student. It is 
 intended to supply a want which has been brought 
 often and practically to my notice. 
 
 The works on Biblical Numismatics or Jewish coins 
 are exhaustive, but are costly, and in many instances 
 rare. They are usually written for those already 
 learned in the science, and are full of technical infor- 
 mation. They are frequently in foreign tongues, and 
 abounding in references given in the original Hebrew, 
 Greek, and Latin. For these and other reasons the 
 works to which I refer are of little value to any but 
 advanced students. 
 
 Necessarily this book has been a compilation from 
 the standard works on the subject, and it is a digest of 
 what has been decided by those best qualified to speak 
 on this interesting branch of science. No pains have 
 been spared to consult the best and the latest author- 
 ities, and every work that is known to me on the 
 
 2094080
 
 6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 subject has received careful attention. In many cases 
 extracts have been made from the writings of those 
 who have made Jewish currency a life study, and 
 a full and grateful acknowledgement is given, especially 
 of my indebtedness to the works of Madden and 
 de Saulcy. Without Madden's costly works no student 
 can even pretend to study the subject, and his writings 
 have been laid under heavy contribution, as the works 
 of the greatest authority. A list is appended of the 
 chief books that have been consulted, for the use of 
 such readers as may desire a fuller knowledge of the 
 subject, and to give it a deeper investigation. The 
 third book in the list can be recommended as the great 
 work on the subject. 
 
 I have written this treatise in easy language, and 
 perhaps even over-explained myself, beside trans- 
 lating every reference given in the original. It seemed 
 necessary in most cases to give the original, as an aid 
 to the more highly educated reader ; but the book is 
 mainly written for popular use and commended to 
 
 popular attention. 
 
 G. C. W.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PACE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES 9 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS n 
 
 CHAP. I. UNCOINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT . 13 
 
 II. COINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT . 25 
 
 III. COINED MONEY OF THE TIME OF THE APOCRYPHA, 
 
 WITH PEDIGREE OF THE AsMONJEAN DYNASTY . 3 1 
 
 IV. NEW TESTAMENT MONEY. COINS OF THE HERODS 43 
 V. THE COINS ACTUALLY NAMED IN THE NEW 
 
 TESTAMENT 58 
 
 VI. COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BlBLE STORY . . 80 
 
 INDEX ... .... 95 
 
 LIST OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES 96
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES 
 
 Greek Testament. DEAN ALFORD. 
 
 History of Jewish Coinage. F. W. MADDEN. 
 
 Coins of the Jews, F. W. MADDEN. 
 
 Recherches sur la numismatique juddique. F. DE SAULCY. 
 
 Biblische Numismatik. ABB CAVEDONI. 
 
 Dissertationes Nitmismatum. SPANHEIM. 
 
 Geschichte der jildischen Miinzen. LEVY. 
 
 Ntimismatica Biblica. CAVEDONI. 
 
 Nnovi studi sopra le antiche Monete giudaiche, CAVEDONI. 
 
 Numismatic Illustrations. AKERMAN. 
 
 Numismatique de la Terre Sainte. F. DE SAULCY. 
 
 De Numis Hebrcso-Samaritanis. BAYER. 
 
 Dictionary of the Bible (Art. ' Money '). POOLE. 
 
 Life of St. Paul. CONYBEARE. 
 
 Sunday School Teachers' Dictionary. KlTTO. 
 
 Biblical Cyclopaedia. EADIE. 
 
 Numerous papers and articles on the subject in the Numis- 
 matic Chronicle and Journal, Revue Numismatique, Numismatische 
 Zeitschrift, Melanges de Numismatique, Berlinet Philologische Wo- 
 chenschrift, Zeitschrift fiir Numismatik.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Egyptian weighing money 15 
 
 Egyptian ring money ......... 16 
 
 Gold daric 26 
 
 Shekel of the time of Ezra 28 
 
 Tetradrachm of Alexander . . . ... . . .32 
 
 Tetradrachm of Selencus I Nicator 32 
 
 Tetradrachm of Antiochus Euergetes 33 
 
 Half Shekel (copper) of Simon Maccabsens 35 
 
 Sixth of Shekel (copper) of Simon Maccabseus . . . .36 
 
 Coin of John Hyrcanus 40 
 
 Coin of Judas Aristobulns 41 
 
 Coin of Alexander Jannseus 41 
 
 Coin of Alexander Jannseus (with title of king) . ... 42 
 
 Coin of Herod I (Year 3 = B.C. 37) 44 
 
 Coin of Archelaus 46 
 
 Coin of Herod Antipas (Year 33 = A.D. 29) 48 
 
 Coin of Herod Philip II (Year 37 = A.D. 33) 49 
 
 Coin of Herod Agrippa I (Year 6 = A.D. 37) 52 
 
 Coin of Herod Agrippa I (as Csesar's friend) . . . -52 
 
 Coin of Herod Agrippa II 53 
 
 Coin of Procurator Coponius 55 
 
 Coin of Procurator Annius Rufus (Year 41 = A.D. 14) . . .55 
 
 Com of Pontius Pilate 56 
 
 Stater of Augustus 61
 
 12 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Stater of Rhodes, with flowers . 62 
 
 Coin of Alexander Jannasus 65 
 
 Coin of Augustus 67 
 
 Coin of Gadara 68 
 
 Coin of Juba, King of Numidia 68 
 
 Denarius or Penny 70 
 
 Coin representing Apollo with the title of Saviour . . -73 
 
 Coins of Eleazar the Priest 80 
 
 Coin of the First Year of the Revolt . . . . . .81 
 
 Coins of Simon Nasi of the First Year of the Revolt . . .82 
 Coin of Simon of the Second Year of the Revolt (Year 67-68) . 82 
 Coin of Simon of the Third Year of the Revolt (Year 68-69) . 83 
 
 Obverses of three Coins of Vespasian 84 
 
 Coins of the Second Revolt . 85,86 
 
 Copper Coin of Hadrian ........ 86 
 
 Phrygian Coin . 87 
 
 Tyrian Coins . . . . . . . . . - . 88 
 
 Phosnician Coin (enlarged) . . . ..... .89 
 
 Coin of Antoninus Pius 89 
 
 Ephesian Coin . . . . 90 
 
 Ephesian Charm . . .91 
 
 Coin of Cyprus . . . * . . . . . . . 91 
 
 Medals used at Isthmian Games 92 
 
 Coin of Ptolemy Philadelphus 93 
 
 Primitive Symbolical Cross 94 
 
 The Labarum . . . -94
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 UNCOINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 IN considering the money of the Bible it is im- 
 portant in the first place to. draw a broad line of 
 distinction between uncoined and coined money, and 
 it will be seen that, with one or two possible excep- 
 tions, the money of the Old Testament falls under the 
 first of these heads. It will be found, however, as the 
 subject is pursued, that for the piece of money to be 
 uncoined does not necessarily imply that it has not 
 a distinctive and special value, as weighed pieces of 
 silver were of frequent and well-recognized use in the 
 early times with which the Bible has to do. 
 
 In the Book of Job (xlii. n) we have what is 
 perhaps the earliest reference in the Bible to currency, 
 each of his friends giving him -when visiting him
 
 14 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 a piece of money (or silver) and an ear-ring of gold. 
 The word used for piece of money in this passage is 
 kesitah (nD^p). This word occurs three times in the 
 Old Testament ; in the above passage in Job, in the 
 reference to the purchase of a piece of land by Jacob 
 at Shechem for one hundred pieces (Gen. xxxiii. 19), 
 and in Joshua xxiv. 32, where the same piece of land 
 is again mentioned. It literally means 'a portion,' 
 and refers in all probability to a piece of rough 
 metal, broken off, but probably having a known and 
 recognized value by weight. 
 
 The ear-ring of gold gives a further allusion to 
 the use of pieces of metal of known and recognized 
 weight, either for purchasing or, until so required, as 
 ornaments. The Septuagint version of the Bible 
 more accurately translates this phrase a tetradrachm 
 of uncoined gold (rerpaSpa^^oy \pvaov KOL dcr?jjuou). 
 
 It is clear, as all the friends of the patriarch Job 
 gave him the same gift, and that in conjunction with 
 a piece of silver, that the ear-ring was representative 
 of certain value, and it is equally evident that Job 
 used his gifts in the purchase of cattle, as we read 
 in the next verse that he was possessed of thousands 
 of animals. 
 
 Similar instances of the use of ornaments of gold, 
 both as decoration and also as representative of 
 wealth, are to be found in the Old Testament. The 
 Midianites (Num. xxxi. 50, 51) carried their wealth 
 with them in the form of chains, bracelets, ear-rings,
 
 UNCOINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 15 
 
 and tablets, and the Israelites on leaving Egypt 
 spoiled the Egyptians of jewels of silver and jewels 
 of gold, obtaining the wages for their long and arduous 
 labour in this way (Exod. xii. 35, 36). 
 
 These ornaments probably had a distinctive weight, 
 which was known and possibly stamped upon them. 
 The servant of Abraham gave to Rebekah ' a golden 
 ear-ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets 
 
 EGYPTIAN WEIGHING MONEY. 
 
 for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold ' (Gen. 
 xxiv. 22). 
 
 The ancient Egyptians are represented in con- 
 temporary paintings as weighing rings of metal, gold, 
 and white gold (i. e. silver), and of keeping by them 
 vessels containing piles of such weighed rings, each 
 having, in all probability, its own distinctive value. 
 The illustrations are from Sir Gardner Wilkinson's
 
 i6 
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 work on the Ancient Egyptians ; vol. ii. p. 149, and are 
 from drawings made in the tombs. 
 
 The money used by the children of Israel when 
 they went to purchase corn in Egypt may have been 
 of this ring shape, resembling the bronze rings for 
 arms and ankles still occasionally found in the bogs 
 of Ireland and those used by uncivilized tribes in the 
 South Seas. The Israelitish money is spoken of as 
 ' bundles of money ' (Gen. xlii. 35), and a similar 
 
 EGYPTIAN RING MONEY. 
 
 phrase occurs in the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut. xiv. 
 24-26), where the payment of tithe is permitted in 
 money instead of kind, when distance prevents the 
 journeying of flocks. The passage states, 'then shalt 
 thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine 
 hand ; ' and this implies the use of ring money, or at all 
 events of money in pieces that could be tied or 
 fastened together.
 
 UNCOINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 17 
 
 This use of ring money, and its kindred one of 
 ornament for the person, representing material and 
 available wealth, is spread through many Oriental 
 nations, and in places still holds its own. 
 
 Nubia is one of the countries in which ornamental 
 ring money is still used, and in the cabinets of the 
 Numismatic Society may be seen some interesting 
 specimens of Nubian ring money presented to the 
 Society by the late Joseph Bonomi. 
 
 Amongst nomadic tribes especially, importance has 
 always been attached to the visibility and portability of 
 wealth, and ornaments for the use of their women 
 offered a convenient form for the gratification of this 
 idea. From the ornament being attached to the 
 woman, it acquired a sort of taboo character, and inter- 
 ference with it was considered as an insult to the 
 owner of the female slave. There was the con- 
 venience also for making that grand display of material 
 property so dear to an Oriental mind, and the further 
 advantage of an easy removal and negotiation in case 
 of an urgent need. 
 
 Egyptian gold rings are to be seen in the University 
 Museum at Leyden. and the same character of orna- 
 mental currency may be noted even in European 
 countries. 
 
 An Icelandic writer of the twelfth century, Snorro 
 Sturleson, speaks of a marriage dowry consisting of 
 ' three large farms and a gold collar.' Caesar tells us 
 that 'the Gauls used for money gold and iron rings of 
 
 B
 
 [8 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 certain weight,' and a similar statement he makes in 
 relation to Britain. 
 
 Casual mention has already been made of Irish 
 ring money. In bronze these rings have been found 
 commencing in weight from exactly one half-penny 
 weight, and rising in regular proportion from that up 
 to twelve ounces. 
 
 The rings are sometimes interlaced in the form of 
 a chain, or hooked together by hooks at the end, and 
 in some cases they possess flat cymbal-like ends, 
 which were intended to be brought firmly together. 
 It is therefore not difficult to imagine the meaning of 
 the passages mentioned as having reference to the 
 use of ring money amongst the ancient Israelites. 
 
 From the very earliest times the precious metals 
 were used as representative of wealth. Abraham 
 came up from Egypt { very rich in cattle, in silver 
 and in gold ' (Gen. xiii. a and xxiv. 35), and that this 
 bullion was used in commerce there is an early proof 
 in Gen. xvii. 13, where money (^IDS keseph] is spoken 
 of as the price of a slave. The purchase by Abraham 
 of the Cave of Machpelah for four hundred shekels of 
 silver weighed out to Ephron 'current with the 
 merchant' (LXX. SOKIJUOU e/u7ro/>ois), is a more im- 
 portant example of the same method. 
 
 It is evident that pieces of metal of recognized 
 value were re-weighed out by the purchaser to the 
 seller of the land, and in the presence of witnesses. 
 There are many similar instances of this use of money
 
 UNCOINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 19 
 
 by weight. Abimelech gave to Sarah a thousand 
 pieces of silver (Gen. xx. 16). The Philistines paid to 
 Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver (Judges xvi. 
 5, 1 8); Micah, to his mother, the same amount 
 (Judges xvii. 2) ; the Ishmaelites to Joseph's brethren, 
 twenty pieces (Gen. xxxvii. 28), and the Syrian to 
 Gehazi (2 Kings v. 23) money by weight. 
 
 By the laws of Moses, men and cattle (Lev. xxvii. 3 ; 
 Num. iii. 47), the possession of houses and fields 
 (Lev. xxvii. 16), purchase of provisions (Deut. ii. 6, 28 
 and xiv. 26), and all fines for offences (Exod. xxi. and 
 xxii.) were regulated and determined by the value of 
 silver. 
 
 The contributions to the Tabernacle (Exod. xxx. 13 
 and xxxviii. 26), the sacrifices of animals (Lev. v. 15), 
 the redemption of the first-born (Num. iii. 50 and 
 xviii. 1 6), and the payment to the seer (T Sam. ix. 8) 
 were similarly regulated by weight of silver. In none 
 of these instances is any reference intended to money 
 in the form of coin, but to silver by weight. The 
 words shekel or talent in every case refer to a weight. 
 It must, however, be noted that although there are 
 references to a considerable bulk of silver, yet such 
 bulk consisted of separate pieces, which although not 
 issued by a constituted authority, yet must have 
 possessed separate and distinct recognized value. 
 
 Mr. Madden, who is above every one else in' this 
 country the authority upon this branch of Oriental 
 Numismatics, draws particular attention to the 
 
 B 2
 
 20 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 603,550 half shekels accumulated by the contribution 
 of each Israelite for the tabernacle work (Exod. 
 xxxviii. 26). Each individual half shekel named in this 
 passage could hardly have been separately weighed. 
 
 Then again, in Exod. xxx. 13 we read of a half 
 shekel as a contribution for the atonement, ' the rich 
 shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less,' 
 and in i Sam. ix. 7, 8 we learn that the fourth part 
 of a shekel, an individual amount of recognized value, 
 was all the silver that the servant of Saul had with 
 him with which to pay the seer. Later on we shall 
 find that the word shekel, which in every one of the 
 foregoing passages is a weight, becomes the name for 
 an actual coin. 
 
 Exactly the same change as to the word AS in 
 Roman use from weight to coin took place, and an analo- 
 gous case is the use in English of the word pound. 
 
 We have therefore in use at this period of time, as 
 weight for silver the shekel, which is estimated to 
 have weighed about 9 dwt. Troy, which at $s. oz. in 
 silver would give an approximate value of about 2s. $d., 
 the bekah or half the shekel (Exod. xxxviii. 26), the 
 third part (Nehem. x. 32), the rebah or fourth part 
 (i Sam. ix. 8), and the gerah or twentieth part (Exod. 
 xxx. 13). 
 
 It has been objected that no portion of silver of 
 definite weight, and therefore value, has ever been 
 found in the explorations and excavations that have 
 been carried on in the Holy Land ; but the probable
 
 UNCOINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 2,1 
 
 reason of this fact, which on the face of it is not easy 
 to explain, is that from time to time the money used 
 was remelted before a fresh issue of it. Shaphan the 
 scribe told King Josiah, in 2 Kings xxii. 9 and 
 2 Chron. xxxiv. 17, 'Thy servants have gathered' (or as 
 in the Vulgate more accurately, conflaverunt, 'melted ') 
 ' the money that was found in the house.' The same 
 verb is used in Ezek. xxii. 20, where the passage 
 speaks of melting metal in a furnace. 
 
 There are two more references to money in the Old 
 Testament which require notice, more especially as 
 the original makes use in these two passages of two 
 separate distinctive words occurring nowhere else in 
 the version. 
 
 In i Sam. ii. 36, the prophecy concerning the ulti- 
 mate poverty of Eli's house, speaks of his descendants 
 who shall 'come and crouch for a piece of silver.' 
 Here the phrase is Agorath keseph (^oa rni3N). The 
 Septuagint translates the word ofioXbs apyvpiov, and 
 does the same in the passages where the word gerah 
 occurs in the A. V. (supra, Exod. xxx. 13 ; Lev. 
 xxvii. 25; Num. iii. 47, xviii. 16 ; Ezek. xlv. 12), 
 deriving both phrases from the verb agar ("^), to 
 collect ; and the value of money probably intended by 
 the expression is the very least piece of silver known 
 in use, the gerah or twentieth part of the shekel even, 
 if not less that is, the coin that would be given to 
 a beggar, as in the present day might be expressed by 
 the words a sou or a farthing.
 
 aa THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 The other reference is in the Psalms, Ixviii. 30, and 
 the word used is ratsee keseph (^03 ijn^ which appears 
 nowhere else in the Bible. The verb rass&ss 
 evidently is responsible for the expression ratsee^ 
 and literally means to break or crush. The sound of 
 the word is supposed to represent the sound of 
 breaking. The correct translation of the text is 
 probably ' trampling under foot the pieces (or ingots, 
 or lumps roughly broken off) of silver,' and the allu- 
 sion is probably to rough lumps of metal having an 
 approximate known value. 
 
 There is but little mention of gold as a medium 
 of commerce in the Old Testament. As ornaments 
 having a currency value we have already noticed 
 gold in Exod. iii. 22, jewels of gold borrowed from 
 the Egyptians, and again in Exod. xii. 35. Also 
 the gifts to Rebekah in Gen. xxiv. 22, and other 
 passages of similar character. In Joshua vii. 21 we 
 read of a mass of gold in a wedge or tongue-shaped 
 block stolen by Achan. Its weight is given at 50 
 shekels (yXGxro-av niav xpvrfv)- Naaman took with 
 him on his visit to the King of Israel 6,000 shekels of 
 gold, and David paid to Oman the Jebusite for his 
 threshing-floor 600 shekels of gold by weight (i Chron. 
 xxi. 25). Naaman also gave out gold by weight 
 (a Kings v. 5). 
 
 It is doubtful whether the passage in the First 
 Book of Chronicles actually relates to gold at all, as in 
 a Sam. xxiv. 24, where the same event is recorded, the
 
 UNCOINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 23 
 
 phrase used is the more ordinary one for 50 shekels 
 of silver. There is a passage in Isaiah naming gold 
 (Isa. xlvi. 6), ' They lavish gold out of the bag, and 
 weigh silver in the balance,' and another in Job xxviii. 
 15, in very similar terms referring to wisdom, ' It 
 cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be 
 weighed for the price thereof.' Neither of these 
 passages refer to coin, but both to gold in the lump 
 by weight. 
 
 It is never safe in dealing with the expressions used 
 in the Old Testament as regards large sums of money, 
 especially in gold, to endeavour to translate them into 
 English value. The Oriental mind had a habit of 
 extravagance and a love for the use of hyperbole and 
 metaphor from the very earliest times, and this must 
 be taken into account. It is very doubtful in many 
 cases whether anything like Western accuracy is 
 intended to be used in Holy Writ, but rather approxi- 
 mate and relative terms, and then it must be borne in 
 mind that we are without definite data as to the value 
 of the precious metals at these remote ages. 
 
 It is very uncertain, for example, what the worth of 
 the talent of gold really was. The income of King 
 Solomon, it has been pointed out, is stated to have 
 been an annual one of 666 talents of gold. If the 
 usual estimate is made of 15 talents of silver being equal 
 to a talent of gold, as fifteen shekels of silver were to a 
 shekel of gold, we have a sum amounting to four millions 
 of money per annum, which it must be confessed is
 
 34 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 a very unlikely sum. The weight probably varied in 
 each metal, and the nearest approximate estimate that 
 can be formed puts the talent of gold at 131 Ibs. weight, 
 and the talent of silver at 117 Ibs., which would give 
 an English value to them of about .6,000 and 400 
 respectively, and would make the gold and silver 
 shekels of the Old Testament worth respectively 
 forty shillings and three shillings.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 THE first mention in the Bible of what is actually 
 coined money occurs in various passages in the 
 writings of Ezra and Nehemiah (darkemonim, Ezra 
 ii. 68, 69 ; adarkonim^ Ezra viii. 26, 27 ; darkemonim, 
 Nehem. vii. 70, 72 ; adarkonim, i Chron. xxix. 7) ; 
 and in the Authorized Version the Hebrew words 
 adarkonim (D^iS"]!^, LXX. \pva-ol x i '^ tot )) an d darke- 
 monim (D^tos-n, LXX. \wa.C), are translated by the 
 use of the word dram. 
 
 It is generally agreed that these words have 
 reference to the Persian coin, the daric, a gold coin 
 which probably took its name from the Persian dara, 
 signifying king, from the verb dashtan, imperative ddr, 
 to have, to hold, to possess (hence also Darius). The 
 figure on these coins was of the King of Persia, per se, 
 and not of any particular king. 
 
 We are now dealing with a time about five hundred 
 years before Christ, and as coined money was first
 
 26 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 struck only some three to four hundred years earlier, 
 we naturally expect to find a coin in the daric of 
 rude structure and simple device. 
 
 The obverse has the figure of a king kneeling, armed 
 with bow and javelin, and the reverse has the incuse 
 punch-mark that distinguishes archaic coins, and 
 which preceded any device on that side. Our illustra- 
 tion is of a double daric. 
 
 GOLD DARIC. 
 
 The coin is of very pure gold, and weighs on the 
 average 130 grains, which in comparison with an 
 English sovereign of 1 13 grains of gold of lower purity 
 would give its approximate value at i 2s. 
 
 The very word ' sovereign,' applied by us both to 
 monarch and coin, is analogous to this word daric, 
 deriving its name from dara. These darics were also 
 struck in silver, and to the silver darics of Persia 
 allusion is probably made in Nehem. v. 15, ' beside 
 forty shekels of silver.' 
 
 Artaxerxes in B.C. 458 gave a special commission 
 to Ezra, who was just then leaving for Jerusalem, as 
 to the gold and silver in the province (Ezra vii. 16- 
 18), and the king concluded with these words, 'and
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 27 
 
 whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy 
 brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and gold, 
 that do after the will of your God.' Upon these 
 words the eminent numismatist, M. de Saulcy, founded 
 his theory that the coin which is figured on page 28 
 the shekel with its corresponding half-shekel issued in 
 the years i to 5 was struck by Ezra. The theory 
 was accepted by another great writer on the subject, 
 Lenormant, and tentatively by Mr. Madden, who in 
 later years changed his opinion. These coins, weigh- 
 ing in the shekel 220 grains, and in the half-shekel 
 no grains, read as follows: 
 
 Obv. ^N1B *>pp Shekel Israel. Shekel of Israel = 
 a cup or chalice, and above it the letters 3K> 
 year 2. 
 
 Rev. ntjmpn D^trn^ Jernshalaim ha-kedoshah-= 
 Jerusalem the Holy ; a triple lily. 
 
 The question of the exact position in history of 
 these shekels is one of some difficulty, and at present 
 there is no authoritative evidence that once for all 
 will decide it. 
 
 This is not the place to review the evidence brought 
 forward to support the rival theories. M. de Saulcy and 
 M. Lenormant place them as issued in Ezra's time, 
 Mr. Madden, M. Six, and Dr. Merzbacher attribute 
 them to Simon Maccabaeus. Simon is said to have 
 reigned in Judaea for eight years, but not to have 
 obtained the right of coinage until his fourth year, 
 which right again was quickly taken from him.
 
 28 
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 These shekels and half-shekels are of the years i to 
 5, while there do exist copper coins of year 4 only, 
 of very different character from the silver, and which 
 were almost certainly struck by Simon. I have 
 carefully reviewed the evidence for and against, and 
 as each writer is responsible for his own conclusions 
 only, my attribution of these silver coins is to 
 the time of Ezra, and the copper ones of the year 
 4 to Simon Maccabaeus. 
 
 Accordingly I place these coins as the earliest 
 actual Jewish money. 
 
 SHEKEL OF THE TIME OF EZRA. 
 
 The device on the obverse is usually supposed to 
 be the cup or pot of manna laid up in the sanctuary. 
 ' And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an 
 omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the 
 Lord, to be kept for your generations ' (Exod. 
 xvi. 33). 
 
 The device on the reverse is either Aaron's rod 
 that ' budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed 
 blossoms, and yielded almonds ' (Num. xvii. 8), and 
 which, like the cup of manna, was laid up before the
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 29 
 
 Lord (Num. xvii. 10), or else, as Cavedoni first 
 suggested, it is a lily : ' I will be as the dew unto 
 Israel ; he shall grow (i.e. blossom) as the lily' (Hosea 
 xiv. 5). The former attribution is the one, however, 
 more usually accepted by numismatists, and I accept 
 it. It brings both devices into close and intimate 
 connexion, and is the more natural explanation. It 
 would be precious symbolism to the Jews after their 
 exile, reminding them of their history and its great 
 and past events, filling them with hope as to future 
 prosperity and the restoration of their Temple and 
 its worship, and encouraging them in this their 
 initial coinage to look forward with hope. It was 
 the Temple and the Temple service for which they 
 were looking at the time, and every symbol that 
 reminded them of the Tabernacle, of historical 
 continuity of life and service, and of the earlier pages 
 of their history, would be likely to be used by their 
 great leader in a time when so much depended upon 
 unity of purpose, determination, and faith. 
 
 As already mentioned, there are shekels and half- 
 shekels for five years, and every coin bears the cup 
 and the rod, while the inscriptions, with very small 
 differences, are as given above in the illustration. 
 
 Jerusalem, it will be noted, is termed ' the Holy,' 
 a title given to the city from very early times, and, 
 it is interesting to note, still retained in its present 
 Arabic name El-Kuds, the holy. In Isa. xlviii. 2 
 it is spoken of as ' the holy city,' and again Isa. Hi. i ;
 
 30 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Dan. ix. 24; Joel iii. 17; and, what is more to the 
 purpose, in Nehem. xi. i, 18, where at this very 
 time we read 'to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city.' 
 The title was evidently a familiar and a favourite one, 
 in use at the very time at which I consider these 
 coins were struck, and the coin but took up the 
 popular phrase for the city that was so intensely 
 beloved by its people.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE TIME OF THE APOCRYPHA 
 
 THE completion of the Book of Malachi is usually, 
 by Bible chronologists, put at 430 B.C., and the period 
 from this time down to the opening of the New 
 Testament is partially covered by the books of the 
 Apocrypha. 
 
 In 332 B.C. the kingdom of Persia was conquered 
 by the Napoleon of his time, Alexander the Great ; 
 but the Jews not only did not suffer under his rule, 
 but had much cause for regret when he died. 
 Alexander's coinage was chiefly of gold staters and 
 silver tetradrachms, and these coins, especially of the 
 latter class, were struck, according to the conqueror's 
 custom, in the various countries that he subjugated, as 
 typical of the submission of the nations. 
 
 There are coins extant of Alexander struck in 
 Palestine at Joppa, Acre, Sycamine in Caesarea, 
 and Scythopolis in Samaria, known also as Beth-shan. 
 
 I illustrate a fine tetradrachm of Alexander. At
 
 32 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 the death of Alexander there was considerable dispute 
 as to his possessions, and the Jews, whose country lay 
 
 TETRADRACHM OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 between Syria and Egypt, had much cause for com- 
 plaint during the internecine struggle. 
 
 For a while their country was harassed by both 
 nations, and the coinage used in the land embraces 
 that issued by the Seleucidse (Syrians) and the 
 
 TETRADRACHM OF SELEUCUS I NICATOR. 
 
 Ptolemies (Egypt). Of the former series the coin 
 I illustrate is a tetradrachm of Seleucus I Nicator,
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE APOCRYPHA 
 
 33 
 
 B.C. 312-280, bearing on it the title of the King 
 'Seleucus' ZEAEYKOY BAZIAEHZ, by and under 
 the figure, and under the seat of the chair the letters 
 Al, initials of the name Diospolis, where the coin was 
 struck, the town being familiarly termed Lydda, and 
 named in Acts ix. 32, 35, 38. These coins of the 
 Seleucidae were also struck in Tyre, Sidon, Ascalon 
 and other towns. 
 
 The next illustration is of a later Syrian coin 
 issued by the King Antiochus VII, surnamed Side- 
 tes, or the hunter, and Euergetes, B.C. 138-127. It 
 represents on the obverse the head of the king, and 
 
 TETRADRACHM OF A"NTIOCHUS EUERGETES. 
 
 on the reverse the words BAZIAEHI ANTIOXOY 
 EYEPTETOY, '(Money) of the King Antiochus 
 Euergetes.' This title, meaning benefactor, is of 
 peculiar interest, because used by our Lord in Luke 
 xxii. 25, when He, speaking of those exercising 
 authority, gives them the title of benefactors. The 
 device is Minerva holding Victoria. 
 
 It is needless in a work of this kind to review the 
 C
 
 34 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 history of the invasions of Judaea under the Kings 
 of Syria and Egypt, and it is well to pass on to the 
 revolution of the Jews against their persecutors, led by 
 a priest named Mattathias, whose son Judas Maccabaeus 
 attained great notoriety, and from whose family came 
 the Herodian dynasty. 
 
 This family, in the persons both of the father him- 
 self and his two sons, Judas, surnamed Maccabaeus, or 
 the Hammerer (nspD ' a hammer '), and Jonathan, who 
 succeeded him, successfully led the Jews against their 
 enemies, defeating them over and over again, and 
 obtaining from them a measure of liberty. 
 
 The second son, Simon, who after the death of 
 Jonathan formed a treaty with Demetrius II, King of 
 Syria, became high priest and leader of the Jews, 
 and to him was given the very important right of 
 coining money. 
 
 Judaea under Simon enjoyed prosperity and peace. 
 In B.C. 140 Demetrius was captured by Mithridates I, 
 King of Parthia, and the usurper Tryphon having been 
 expelled, Antiochus VII ascended the throne. He at 
 once renewed the treaty with Simon, and he it was, 
 whose coin is depicted above, who granted the high 
 priest the right of coinage. ' I give thee leave also,' 
 says he, ' to coin money for thy country, with thine own 
 stamp ' : Kcu e7rerpev//d crot iroirja-ai co'/i/ia Ibiov v6[j.L(rp,a 
 777 x^pa "u (i Mace. xv. 6). 
 
 The coins issued in accordance with this decree 
 were in all probability those of copper issued in the
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE APOCRYPHA 
 
 35 
 
 fourth year. The shekels of Ezra, in silver, were still in 
 existence, and these coins of Simon were for the half, 
 quarter, and sixth parts of a shekel. The decree neither 
 states nor implies that no earlier coins were issued. 
 
 The half shekel and the sixth of the shekel are 
 illustrated, and putting the Hebrew inscriptions into 
 English lettering, I give the inscriptions on all three of 
 the coins. 
 
 HALF SHEKEL (COPPER) OF SIMON MACCABEUS. 
 
 Obv. Shenath arba Chatzi = In the fourth year 
 
 one-half. 
 Two bunches of thickly-leaved branches, 
 
 between which is a citron. 
 Rev. Ligullath Zion = The redemption of Zion. 
 
 A palm-tree between two baskets filled with 
 dates and other fruits. 
 
 Quarter shekel (not illustrated) 
 
 Obv. Shenath arba Rebia=In the fourth year 
 
 one-quarter. 
 
 Two bundles of branches (lulab). 
 Rev. Ligullath Zion = The redemption of Zion. 
 A citron (ethrog). 
 C 2
 
 36 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 SIXTH OF SHEKEL (COPPER) OF SIMON MACCAB/EUS. 
 
 Obv. Shenath arba = In the fourth year. 
 
 A bundle of branches between two citrons. 
 
 Rev. Ligullath Zion=The redemption of Zion. 
 A cup or chalice. 
 
 We have already said that the right was given to Simon 
 in the fourth year, and very speedily removed from him. 
 These coins are known of the fourth year only. 
 
 The palm-tree of Palestine is a symbol of great 
 interest. The palm branches are those alluded to in 
 connexion with the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. 
 40), and the baskets with the dates probably refer to 
 the first-fruits. The citron, or ethrog, was by custom 
 of the Jews carried with the palm branches, or lulab^ 
 on the Feast of Tabernacles ; and, as Madden points 
 out, the various emblems have reference also to the 
 prosperity, peace, and productiveness of the country 
 under Simon. One coin is known, countermarked with 
 an elephant, the work of the Syrian king, but the series 
 have not a feature in common with the older silver 
 coinage, save perhaps the cup, which in the copper 
 coin is very different in shape, jewelled, and more of 
 a temple service vessel than the archaic form of the 
 older coinage.
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE APOCRYPHA 37 
 
 These are clearly the Maccabaean coins. Inasmuch 
 as this is not a detailed history of Jewish coinage, 
 it will be unnecessary to pass in review every coin 
 struck by successive high priests or rulers of the 
 Asmonaean dynasty. 
 
 A brief pedigree is appended, however, in order to 
 explain the descent of the Herodian dynasty, and to 
 guard against a possible confusion between the various 
 rulers having the common name of Herod. Of the 
 Maccabaean rulers there are coins known of those 
 whose names are in italics, i. e. Simon, as above, 
 John Hyrcanus, Judas Aristobulus, Alexander Jan- 
 naeus, and his wife Alexandra, Alexander II, and 
 Antigonus, and then we come to the Herodian rulers. 
 
 PEDIGREE SHOWING THE ASMONAEAN DYNASTY. 
 
 B.C. 167. 
 
 Mattathias. 
 
 ! 
 
 Joannen. Simon. Judas Maccabseus. Eleazar. Jonathan. 
 
 I 
 John Hyrcanus. 
 
 Judas Aristobulus I = Alexandra Alexander Janncnis =p Alexandra. 
 (Salome). 
 
 Hyrcanus II. Aristobulus II. 
 
 I 
 
 Antigonus. 
 
 Mariamne = Herod I. Aristobulus.
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
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 COINED MONEY OF THE APOCRYPHA 39 
 
 Doubtless the little copper coins issued by these 
 pontifical rulers were of great value commercially, 
 as they were the only home coinage of the Jews for 
 small values. They bear on one side the name of 
 the ruler, and on the other a double cornucopia. 
 
 John Hyrcanus succeeded his father in B.C. 135 
 as high priest, but was more a politician than a priest, 
 and the struggle at this time on the part of the ruler 
 was to assume princely if not kingly power, and to do 
 it without offending the prejudices of the Jews, who 
 hated the very idea of an independent sovereign. 
 
 With this purpose these rulers associated with their 
 title of high priest the so-called senate or confedera- 
 tion of the Jews ; but little by little the power left the 
 senate and vested -in [the ruler, who gradually assimi- 
 lated his position more and more to that of a king. 
 
 The devices, which on the earliest coins, as has 
 been shown, related to the unity of Jewish life with 
 its past history, and the sacred character and holiness 
 of its service and city in the later coins to the 
 revival of Temple worship, the feasts and ritual of the 
 Temple, and the general prosperity of the land when 
 'the earth gave her increase' (i Mace. xiv. 8), now 
 were of a totally different character. 
 
 The cornucopia and the poppy-head, the Syrian 
 anchor and the star, are now found ; and in later 
 Herodian days devices of a wholly profane character 
 appear. The coin was becoming more and more 
 heathen, less and less of the sacred Jewish character.
 
 40 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 and although up to this time the old sacred language 
 had been continued, yet a little while after it will be 
 found that even that was gradually dropped. 
 
 A new family of rulers now enters the scene, and 
 heathen worship and heathen custom, repudiated by 
 the earlier Maccabees, are adopted as part of the 
 regular life and type of the Jews. 
 
 The coin of John Hyrcanus depicted may be thus 
 described : the long Hebrew inscription, which I 
 give in English characters, filling the obverse of the 
 coin 
 
 COIN OF JOHN HYRCANUS. 
 
 Obv . Jehochanan Hakkohen Haggadol Rosh 
 Cheber Hajehudim = Johanan the High 
 Priest and Prince of the Senate of the 
 Jews. Within a wreath of olive. 
 
 Rev.lvfo cornucopiae, between which is a poppy- 
 head. 
 
 Judas Aristobulus, his son, who succeeded him, 
 issued but few coins, as he only reigned for one year. 
 His coin reads as follows 
 
 Obv. Jehudah Cohen Gadol Vecheber Hajehudim 
 = Judas the High Priest and the Senate 
 of the Jews. 
 
 Rev. Very similar to the last.
 
 COINED MONEY OF THE APOCRYPHA 41 
 
 The illustration shows two obverses very slightly 
 differing one from the other. 
 
 COIN OF JUDAS ARISTOBULUS. 
 
 Alexander Jannaeus was the next ruler (B. c. 105-78), 
 and he at once married Salome (or Alexandra in 
 Greek), the wife of his deceased brother Judas. In 
 his reign a great rebellion between Pharisees and 
 Sadducees took place, which was quelled only after 
 great slaughter, and the king was pelted with ethrogs 
 (citrons). Two coins struck by this ruler are illustrated, 
 as they mark an epoch in Jewish coinage. 
 
 The first is very similar to those already depicted, 
 and reads Jonathan Hakkohen Haggadol Vecheber 
 Hajehudim = Jonathan the High Priest and the 
 Senate of the Jews. 
 
 COIN OF ALEXANDER JANNAEUS. 
 
 The other has two new features. The hated name 
 of king is boldly assumed, and on the reverse of the 
 bilingual coins appears for the first time Greek
 
 42 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 characters. This coin was probably one of the great 
 causes of the revolt to which I have just alluded. 
 
 COIN OF ALEXANDER JANN^EUS (WITH TITLE OF KING). 
 
 It is not necessary to review either the events of 
 the reigns of the rulers who successively followed 
 Jannaeus or the coins issued by them. The time was 
 one of insurrection and rebellion. John Hyrcanus II 
 sat on the throne on three successive occasions. In 
 the intervals his brothers or other relatives drove 
 him away and took his place, and then his party 
 asserting its supremacy he returned. 
 
 Alexandra, the wife of Jannasus, reigned for a while, 
 and after her death her son John Hyrcanus succeeded. 
 Aristobulus II, Alexander II, and Antigonus also 
 reigned, the latter being defeated in B.C. 37 by 
 Herod I, the Idumaean, who had married the niece 
 of Antigonus; and with his death in Rome in B.C. 37 
 the Asmonaean dynasty ended, and the first of the 
 evil brood of Herods reigned over Judaea. 
 
 There were many coins issued of this period, but 
 there is little service in illustrating them, and attention 
 must now be directed to the money of the New 
 Testament under the Herodian dynasty.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT MONEY. COINS OF THE HERODS 
 
 DURING the reign of the last Asmonaean ruler 
 Judaea came fully under the power of Rome, and 
 Antigonus with his father and elder brother were 
 carried prisoners by Pompey to Rome. Antipater 
 the Idumaean, under the Romans, had been actual 
 ruler for some time previous to this, and his two 
 sons Phasael and Herod were governing in Jerusalem 
 and Galilee. By the help of the Parthians, Antigonus. 
 escaping from Rome, regained his throne for a brief 
 space, but eventually Jerusalem was again besieged 
 and taken. Antigonus was then executed by the 
 Romans at Antioch, and Herod I, surnamed the 
 Great, permitted as a feudatory vassal to ascend the 
 throne. 
 
 The names of Herod and his sons and descendants 
 are so familiar to students of Holy Scripture, that 
 although the coins they actually issued are not 
 specifically named in the New Testament, yet so 
 important are the issuers in its history, that it is
 
 44 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 desirable some reference in detail should be made 
 to their coins. The coins depicted show for the first 
 time inscriptions wholly in Greek, not Hebrew, char- 
 acters, and those of the Herods are of copper only. 
 
 Herod I (surnamed the Great), B.C. 37-4, was the 
 builder of the beautiful Temple, and he it was who 
 ordered the massacre of the infants at Bethlehem. 
 His cruelties were atrocious, and despite the erection 
 of the Temple he failed to win the least affection from 
 the people over whom he ruled, and died in torment, 
 universally hated. 
 
 The coin illustrated is a remarkable piece. 
 
 COIN OF HEROD I (YEAR 3 = B.C. 37). 
 
 On the obverse is a vessel with a bell-shaped cover 
 and stand, above it a star, and on either side what are 
 probably palm branches. 
 
 The reverse reads BAZIAEHZ HPHAOY, and bears 
 a tripod, to the left of which are the letters L T signi- 
 fying the third year, and to the right the monogram f . 
 
 It is impossible to say what the curious device on 
 the obverse actually represents. No one of the many 
 writers on the subject have succeeded in determining
 
 COINS OF THE HERODS 45 
 
 this moot question. Cavedoni with great probability 
 suggests that it is the censer carried by the high 
 priest once a year on the solemn Day of Atonement 
 into the Holy of Holies, and that as Herod con- 
 quered Jerusalem on the very Day of Atonement, 
 the device would be appropriate, especially as a mark 
 of indignity toward the Jews. 
 
 The two palm branches may allude also to this 
 victory, or, as Cavedoni again suggests, to the ' two 
 olive trees' of Zechariah's vision (Zech. iv. 3, 12). 
 The tripod shows Herod's paganizing spirit, and 
 was adapted from heathen coins. The year 3, if 
 counted from Herod's receipt of the title of King 
 of Judaea from the Romans, would make the date 
 716 (B.C. 37). There is a division of opinion again 
 as to the monogram. Cavedoni calls it the Crux 
 ansata, employed both on Egyptian and Assyrian 
 monuments as the sign of life. De Saulcy, on the 
 contrary, says it is a mark of value, T and P, a 
 contraction for TPtas (three), or rather TPi-^a\Kov. 
 Nothing now remains to refer to on the coin but 
 the star, and this is certainly a remarkable object. 
 Cavedoni suggests that, like the censer, it also refers 
 to the victory over Jerusalem ; but there is just the 
 possibility remaining that it has some connexion 
 either with the prophecy as to the arising of a star 
 in the East, or to the expectation of some wonderful 
 astronomical phenomenon, or merely to an assumption 
 by Herod, in ridicule of the position of Him whose
 
 46 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 birth was to be foreshadowed by the appearance of 
 a star. It may be equivalent to the announcement 
 by Herod of his rulership or messiahship of Israel, 
 a profane sneer at Jewish expectations, or the pro- 
 phecy which the Jews believed. It is certainly 
 interesting to find a large single noticeable star upon 
 a coin of Herod. 
 
 Herod Archelaus, of whom Joseph was afraid, came 
 to the kingdom upon the death of his father. He 
 was, however, only named ethnarch or ruler of 
 the nation by Augustus, with the promise of the 
 title of king thereafter, if he reigned virtuously. He 
 is the only prince of Judaea who bore the title of 
 ethnarch, which in 2 Cor. xi. 32 is a title given to 
 the King of Damascus : ' The governor under Aretas 
 the ethnarch kept the city.' Archelaus reigned over 
 Judaea, Idumaea and Samaria. His coin reads as 
 follows : 
 
 COIN OF ARCHELAUS. 
 
 Obv. HPHAOY, a bunch of grapes and a leaf. 
 Rev. E0NAPXOY, a helmet with tuft of feathers 
 
 and cheek pieces. 
 
 Next follows Herod Antipas (B.C. 4-A.D. 39). 
 This is Herod the tetrarch (Matt. xiv. 1-3 ; Luke
 
 COINS OF THE HERODS 47 
 
 iii. i, 19; ix. 7). Herod the king (Matt. xiv. 9), and 
 King Herod (Mark vi. 14). 
 
 It was before this king that our Blessed Lord was 
 sent for examination when Pilate heard that He was 
 a Galilean, as Herod was tetrarch of Galilee. Pilate 
 had engaged in several disputes with the Galileans, 
 and was not on good terms with Herod. In connexion 
 with the transfer of our Blessed Lord to the jurisdic- 
 tion of Herod, the long-standing quarrel between 
 the procurator and the king was made up, and Herod 
 and Pilate again became friends (Luke xxiii. 12). 
 This is the monarch whose craftiness is alluded to 
 by our Lord in the words, ' Go ye and tell that fox ' 
 (Luke xiii. 32). 
 
 He married first the daughter of the Arabian king 
 Aretas, but when on a visit to his half-brother Philip, 
 he persuaded his brother's wife Herodias to consent 
 to a secret union with him. The Arabian princess, 
 justly incensed, returned to her father. Herod, under 
 the influence of this new wife, whose union with 
 him was soon made public, beheaded St. John 
 Baptist. Aretas, to revenge the insult to the honour 
 of his daughter, made war against Herod, and defeated 
 him with great loss, but was compelled by the power 
 of Rome to desist from warring against the Roman 
 vassal. Herod was the founder and builder of the 
 city of Tiberias, named in honour of his patron, 
 the evil Emperor Tiberius. After the death of that 
 emperor, Herod journeyed to Rome to obtain the
 
 4# THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 title of king, which he had already wrongfully assumed, 
 but which had been given to his nephew Agrippa I. 
 In consequence, however, of the opposition of Agrippa, 
 Herod was deprived of his power, and with Herodias, 
 who stoutly refused to forsake him in his misfortune, 
 was banished to Lyons, and afterwards removing to 
 Spain died in that country. 
 
 St. Luke's words in iii. 19, 'for all the evils which 
 Herod had done,' attribute many wicked deeds to 
 this monarch. Of his fear and perplexity when he 
 heard of our Lord, we read in the same Gospel (ix. 7) : 
 ' Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done 
 by Him : and he was perplexed,'&c. He it was also who 
 endeavoured by his emissaries to persuade our Lord 
 
 COIN OF HEROD ANTIPAS (YEAR 33 = A.U. 29). 
 
 to flee into Judaea, by the threat that ' Herod wishes 
 to kill Thee.' It was of this evil ruler, and of his 
 influence, that the note of warning was sounded, 
 ' Beware of the leaven of Herod ' (Mark viii. 15). 
 The coin of Herod Antipas depicted reads : 
 <9fo;._HPO)AOY TETPAPXOY, a palm branch 
 
 and the letters LAP (year 33). 
 Rev. TIBEPI AC in two lines within a wreath.
 
 COINS OF THE HERODS 49 
 
 There is a solitary mention in St. Luke's Gospel 
 of Herod Philip II, under the name of Philip the 
 tetrarch, QiXi-mrov TerpapxowTos 'his brother Philip 
 tetrarch of Itursea' (iii. i) ; and the reader must be 
 very careful not to confuse this tetrarch with the 
 Philip, first husband of Herodias, to whom allusion 
 has already been made. 
 
 Philip I. the brother of Antipas, is named three times 
 in the Gospels (Matt. xiv. 3, Mark vi. 17, Luke iii. 19), 
 in each case the same phrase being used, ' his brother 
 Philip's wife.' Of this prince there are no coins known. 
 
 The second Philip named by St. Luke reigned from 
 
 COIN OF HEROD PHILIP Il3(YEAR 37 = A.D. 33). 
 
 B. c. 4 to A. D. 34. He was the son of Herod I by 
 Cleopatra, and he married Salome, daughter of Herod 
 Philip I by Herodias. His coins are remarkable 
 as bearing the effigy of the Roman emperor, a grave 
 infringement of the Mosaic Law ; but they were struck 
 at Caesarea Philippi, some distance from Jerusalem, 
 and their issuer was hardly the man, as Mr. Madden 
 points out, to study the dictates of Mosaic Law when 
 anxious to flatter the Roman power. The coin here, 
 represented reads as follows : 
 
 D
 
 50 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Obv. The head of Tiberius to the right, bare, 
 
 and before it a branch of laurel. 
 TIBEPIOH CEBACTOC KAICAP = Tiberius. 
 
 ^^.__<j,IAinnOY TET[PAPXOY] = Philip the 
 Tetrarch ; a temple, and between the 
 columns L A Z (year 37, i.e. A.D. 33-34). 
 
 The grandson of Herod I, named Herod Agrippa, 
 had been, during the lives of the rulers to whom refer- 
 ence has already been made, conspiring to obtain their 
 kingdom. In high favour at Rome with the emperor, 
 he prevented Antipas obtaining the title of king, and 
 when Antipas was banished, obtained the rulership 
 of Galilee and Peraea. Already he possessed Tracho- 
 nitis and two other provinces. In A.D. 41 the Emperor 
 Claudius gave him Judaea, Samaria, and Libanus, and 
 with these additions he was practically master of 
 the entire dominions that had been governed by 
 Herod I. He was the son, it will be noted from the 
 pedigree, of Aristobulus and Berenice. He was 
 a popular sovereign with the Jews, lived constantly 
 in Jerusalem, and gave strict attention to the 
 observances and regulations of his people. 
 
 It was probably from a desire to. increase this 
 popularity that he ' stretched forth his hands to vex 
 certain of the Church' (Acts xii. i). He it was who 
 caused St. James to be beheaded, and threw St. Peter 
 into prison ; and the chapter that records these events 
 records also his death. At Csesarea, at the great games 
 which he arranged in honour of the emperor, he ap-
 
 COINS OF THE HERODS 51 
 
 peared, according to Josephus, in a garment ' made 
 wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful 
 .... and the silver of his garment being illuminated 
 by the sun shone out after a surprising manner, and 
 was resplendent as to spread a horror over those that 
 looked intently upon him.' His flatterers saluted 
 him as a god, and Josephus adds, ' the king did neither 
 rebuke them nor reject their impious flattery.' The 
 sacred narrative sums up the conclusion of the tragedy 
 in these words : ' And immediately the angel of the 
 Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory : 
 and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost ' 
 (Acts xii. 23). 
 
 The story appears in Eusebius as well as in Josephus, 
 differing only in small details, and it is evident that 
 the attack that caused the king's death was very 
 sudden, and looked upon both by king and people as 
 a Divine rebuke to such gross impiety. The account 
 in the Acts of the Apostles should be compared 
 with the ninth chapter of the Second Book of Macca- 
 bees. The description there is of the terrible death of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes of the same fell disease. From 
 this king, who, like Herod Agrippa, had termed himself 
 a god on his coins, and received the flattering praise of 
 his courtiers, came the touching words : 'It is meet to 
 be subject unto God, and that a man that is mortal 
 should not proudly think of himself as if he were 
 God' (2 Mace. ix. 12). 
 
 The strictly Jewish coin depicted of Agrippa bears 
 D 2
 
 53 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 on it a remarkable device. It may be a tent or taber- 
 nacle, and have some reference to the Feast of Taber- 
 nacles, or, as Levy suggests, with more probability, it 
 is an umbrella, the usual sign of dignity in the East. 
 
 COIN OF HEROD AGRIPPA I (YEAR 6 = A.D. 37}. 
 
 The coin reads : 
 
 Obv. BACIAECOC ArPinA = King Agrippa; an 
 
 umbrella. 
 Rev. Three ears of corn springing from one stalk, 
 
 and on either side the letters L S (year 6). 
 
 Another coin of Agrippa is depicted, as the title 
 
 that the king gives to himself upon it is the one to 
 
 COIN OF HEROD AGRIPPA I. 
 
 which allusion is made in John xix. 12, 'If thou let 
 this Man go, thou art not Caesar's friend.' The 
 coin reads : 
 
 Obv. BACIAEYC METAC ArPirTTTAC <t>IAO- 
 KAICAP = King Agrippa, the great lover 
 of Caesar ; head of Agrippa to the right.
 
 COINS OF THE HERODS 53 
 
 tf^/.KAICAPIA H TTPOC [CEBACTH] AIMENI = 
 Caesarea near the port of Augustus; 
 Fortune standing to the left, holding rudder 
 and cornucopia. 
 
 The last prince of the race to whom allusion need 
 be made is Agrippa II, A. D. 48-100. He was the 
 son of Herod Agrippa I and Cypros. Claudius gave 
 him various tetrarchies with the title of king, and Nero 
 augmented his kingdom with possessions in Galilee. 
 In A.D. 60, Agrippa II, with his sister Berenice, visited 
 the Roman governor Festus at Caesarea, and there 
 the Apostle St. Paul was brought before him. At 
 this interview Agrippa made the well-known and 
 contemptuous remark to St. Paul, 'Thou wilt soon 
 persuade me to be a Christian' (Acts xxv. 13; 
 xxvi. 2, 28). (Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. 
 Paul, ii. 367.) 
 
 COIN OF HEROD AGRIPPA II. 
 
 The coin illustrated was struck by Agri ppa in the 
 time of Nero. Agrippa's long reign was coincident 
 with that of several emperors of Rome, and his coins 
 are therefore found bearing the effigies of several 
 emperors. He reigned during the time in which the 
 Roman throne was occupied successively by Claudius,
 
 54 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, Domi- 
 tian, Nerva, Trajan. The coin illustrated reads : 
 
 Obv. NEPHN KAl[CAP] = Nero Caesar; head of 
 Nero to the right. 
 
 Rev. EHI BACIAE ATPinn NEPH NIE, which 
 may be read as, Money of Agrippa struck 
 at Neronias. The words are within an 
 olive wreath. 
 
 Agrippa changed the name of the town of Caesarea 
 Philippi to Neronias, in honour of the emperor his 
 patron. 
 
 Ruling side by side with the Herodian princes 
 were the procurators or governors whom the Roman 
 emperors set over Judaea as their especial repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 It was after the deposition of Archelaus in A. D. 6 
 that Judaea proper was reduced to the level of an 
 ordinary Roman province. St. Luke's Gospel (ii. i, 2) 
 refers to Cyrenius as governor of Syria, which at that 
 time was a similar Roman province, having its own 
 governor, as Judaea had. 
 
 The Acts of the Apostles (xxiii. 26) gives the names 
 of Claudius Felix, and (xxiv. 27) of PorciusFestus ; but 
 more important than either of these governors was 
 the infamous Pontius Pilate. The rule of the Roman 
 governors in Judaea lasted from A. D. 6 to 58, and there 
 were but fourteen of them in all. Many of them 
 struck coins during their governorship, and these 
 coins must have been in constant circulation during
 
 COINS OF THE HERODS 55 
 
 the time of the life of our Lord. The distinct sub- 
 serviency of the governor to Rome and his flattery 
 of the reigning emperor is well shown by these coins. 
 Coponius was the first procurator, and it was during 
 his governorship that our Lord was discovered in the 
 Temple hearing the doctors and asking them questions 
 (Luke ii. 40-50). His coin is depicted 
 
 COIN OF PROCURATOR COPONIUS. 
 
 Obv. KAICAPOC = of Caesar or Cassar's, that is, 
 Money of Caesar or Caesar's money ; an ear 
 of corn. 
 Rev. L AT (A.u/ca/3as), year 33; a palm-tree, from 
 
 which hang bunches of dates. 
 
 The third procurator, Annius Rufus, governed from 
 A. D. 12 to 15, and was superseded directly Tiberius 
 ascended the throne. This was during the boyhood 
 of our Lord. 
 
 COIN OF PROCURATOR ANNIUS RUFUS (YEAR 4! =A.D. 14). 
 
 The coin depicted was struck by him in the year 
 A.D. 14. It reads
 
 5 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 - Obv. KAICAPOC, as above. 
 Rev. A palm-tree with dates and L MA (year 41. 
 
 i. e. A. D. 14). 
 
 The next illustration is of the coin of Pontius 
 Pilate. 
 
 COIN OF PONTIUS PILATE. 
 
 Obv. TIBEPIOY KAICAPOC L IS = [Money] of 
 Tiberius Caesar, year 16 (A. D. 29.) 
 
 The device is said to be that of a sacred vessel 
 presented to the Temple by Tiberius. 
 
 ^z/. -IOYAIA KAICAPOC^ Money of Julia Caesar; 
 three ears of millet bound together. 
 
 Julia was the mother of Tiberius, and possessed at 
 the time of Pilate great and exceptional power. 
 
 The coins of the procurators do not exhibit the 
 signs and symbols of heathen worship, as those of the 
 Herodians did ; but the religious scruples of the Jews 
 were considered, and the coins struck bore in most cases 
 symbols that would not be abhorrent to the people 
 over whom the governors were set. 
 
 Of Felix and Festus the Acts of the Apostles speak. 
 Felix was mean and cruel, and his readiness to 
 receive a bribe is mentioned in the description of the 
 imprisonment of St. Paul (Acts xxiv. 26). His wife 
 Drusilla is also named in the narrative, and was
 
 COINS OF THE HERODS 57 
 
 with him at Csesarea (Acts xxiv. 24). Felix did 
 some good service to the country, clearing it of 
 impostors, rogues and vagabonds, and to his good 
 deeds Tertullus in his oration bore witness (Acts 
 xxiv. 2). 
 
 Porcius Festus, with whom Agrippa stayed, suc- 
 ceeded Felix in A.D. 60, but died in A.D. 62. 
 
 Albinus and Gessius Florus succeeded him, and 
 with the last infamous man the rule of the procurators 
 ceased. 
 
 It may be well in the very hasty review that I am 
 making of the numismatic history of the Jewish 
 people, to delay for a space consideration as to the 
 revolts of the Jews against the Roman power that 
 followed the rule of Gessius Florus, and led to the 
 ultimate conquest of Jerusalem. 
 
 Consideration will now be given to the money 
 actually named in the New Testament.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE COINS ACTUALLY NAMED IN THE NEW 
 TESTAMENT 
 
 THERE are certain Greek coins named in the New 
 Testament that claim first attention. I have already 
 referred to the complicated condition of Jewish money 
 in the time of our Lord. Currency must have con- 
 sisted of a great variety of coins money of Greece, 
 imperial money of Rome, Herodian money, money 
 struck by the Roman procurators, Roman provincial 
 money, as of Syria and Antioch, actual Jewish money 
 struck by the Asmonaean dynasty and Herodian rulers, 
 and very possibly coins, still remaining in occasional 
 use, of silver as struck by Ezra. It is the fact that repre- 
 sentatives of almost all these varying currencies are 
 named in the New Testament, and that some sort of 
 adjustment of value existed between one coin and 
 another, that renders so puzzling to a novice the allu- 
 sions in the New Testament to coins. It may at the 
 outset be pointed out that according to the value of
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 59 
 
 silver, a rough table had been drawn up at the time 
 of our Lord as to the corresponding value of these 
 various coins. Thus : 
 
 a. A Greek dram or drachma, the piece of money 
 lost by the woman, was about equal in value to the 
 Roman denarius ' penny,' or civil tribute money. 
 
 b. Two of these Greek drams formed a didrachma, 
 which was the sacred tribute money (not Roman), the 
 payment toward the Temple sustenance, willingly paid 
 by every Jew (Matt. xvii. 24). This coin also about 
 equalled in value half a shekel, which was the old 
 Temple tribute. 
 
 c. Four of the Greek drams formed a tetradrachma, 
 which equalled four denarii (or pennies in the Autho- 
 rized Version), the Roman tribute ; or two didrackmas, 
 the sacred Jewish tribute ; or one stater, the coin found 
 in the fish's mouth (Matt. xvii. 27). 
 
 We therefore arrive at this table of varying equiva- 
 lents : 
 
 1 Greek drachma or dram = i Roman denarius or penny. 
 
 2 Greek drachmas or drams a denarii = i didrachma half a shekel. 
 
 4 Greek drachmae or drams = 4 denarii = i tetradrachma = 2 didrachmse 
 
 = i stater - i shekel. 
 
 To take the unit first. 
 
 The Greek drachma is but once mentioned in the 
 New Testament : ' Either what woman having ten 
 pieces of silver (bpa^as SeV-a).' Luke xv. 8. 
 
 The coin in our currency at the price of silver would 
 be in value about eightpence.
 
 60 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 This coin, as shown above, is about equal to the 
 Roman denarius, penny or tribute money. 
 
 The next coin is the one double in value to the last. 
 It is the didrachm or didrachma, equal in value to 
 two drachmae or two denarii, and about equal to half 
 a Jewish shekel. This was the voluntary, willing 
 tribute money of half a shekel paid by the Jews 
 towards the sustenance of the Temple (Exod. xxx. 
 
 *3> 15). 
 
 It is found demanded in the reign of Joash (2 Chron. 
 
 xxiv. 9). On account of the poverty of the people 
 it was reduced, in the time of Nehemiah, to a third 
 of a shekel (Nehem. x. 32); but it comes back in New 
 Testament times to half a shekel, equivalent at that 
 time to a didrachma. Trpoa-rj\9ov ol ra bibpaxp-a Aa/z/3a- 
 VOVTCS T<2 rh'rpa) (Matt. xvii. 24, 27). 
 
 This was a tribute not enforced by law, and there- 
 fore the words of our Blessed Lord have a marked 
 and wonderful significance : ' Of whom do the kings 
 of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own 
 children or of strangers ? ' Taking the same reckoning 
 as adopted heretofore, we may place this coin as worth 
 about one shilling and fourpence. 
 
 Next the four-drachm piece claims attention. This 
 is equal to four denarii, and about equal to a Jewish 
 shekel. It is called a tetradrachm or stater, and is the 
 coin found by St. Peter in the mouth of the fish, suffi- 
 cient to pay the Temple tribute for two persons. KOL 
 avoias TO oro/xa avrov tvprjcrfis a-Tarijpa (Matt. xvii. 27).
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 6l 
 
 As a proof of the minute accuracy of the evangelist, 
 it should be noted that the didrachm had at the time 
 fallen into disuse ; and Mr. Poole points out that had 
 two] didrachmae been found in the fish, the receivers 
 of tribute would hardly have accepted them, but the 
 stater actually found was their equivalent, and gladly 
 taken. The stater illustrated is of Antioch. 
 
 STATER OF AUGUSTUS. 
 
 The obverse reads (translated) ' [Money] of Caesar 
 Augustus,' and has the laureated head of the emperor. 
 
 The reverse shows the genius of the city seated 
 with her foot upon a figure representing the river- 
 god Orontes, and the words the 3Oth year of the 
 victory [i.e. Actium]. The word stater means 
 simply standard^ a coin of a certain full and definite 
 weight ; and the use of the word in this instance is to 
 a scholar very strong evidence that the Gospel of 
 St. Matthew was written in about the first century, 
 when coins the equivalent of a pure silver tetra- 
 drachm were known as staters. 
 
 Another stater which is here illustrated is one of 
 the staters of Rhodes, bearing on the obverse the
 
 62 
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 head of Apollo, god of day and patron of the island, 
 and on the reverse an opening eastern rose, poftov. 
 a play upon the name of the place 'Po'Sos, engraved on 
 the coin as POAIN. The references to the Isle of 
 Rhodes in the Acts of the Apostles (xxi. i) and 
 
 STATER OF RHODES, WITH FLOWERS. 
 
 to the maid Rhoda (xii. 13), give an interest to this 
 coin, as well as the references in the Bible to the rose 
 The rose of Sharon (Cant. ii. i) and 'The desert shall 
 blossom as the rose ' (Isa. xxxv. i). The flower that 
 is named differs considerably from our English rose. 
 The value of a stater in English money according
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 63 
 
 to the scale that I have adopted, may be roughly 
 taken at two shillings and eightpence. The lesson 
 that our Divine Lord taught specially in the miracle by 
 which the stater was produced is a very clear one. ' If 
 earthly kings do not receive tribute from their children,' 
 would be our Lord's argument to St. Peter, ' then am 
 I who am the Son of God excused by their custom 
 from paying anything to God. Nevertheless, lest we 
 should give them the opportunity to say that I despise 
 the Temple and its services, and teach My disciples so 
 to do, take the money, and pay for thee and for Me.' 
 
 Once again we find this coin, the tetradrachm, 
 stater, or shekel, used in the Gospels. The money 
 received for the betrayal of our Blessed Lord 
 was thirty pieces of silver (rpia/cofra apyvpia) (Matt, 
 xxvi. 15, xxvii. 3, 5, 6, 9). Here are simply used 
 the Greek words for silver or money (thirty of silver). 
 The Old Testament gives the explanation, and this 
 explanation was first suggested by Mr. Poole. In 
 Exod. xxi. 32 the price of blood for one who was killed 
 by misadventure was fixed at thirty shekels of silver. 
 
 St. Matthew's Gospel refers the prophecy as to 
 the betrayal of our Lord to the prophet Jeremiah. 
 This is an error probably on the part of an early 
 transcriber, as de Saulcy pointed out that the Syriac 
 version of the Gospel gives only the words, ' the 
 prophet,' and gives no name. The actual passage 
 to which reference is made is in Zech. xi. 12, 13, 
 and there reference is clearly made to the shekels in
 
 64 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 use at that time. In the time of our Lord there were 
 no shekels current (save perhaps a few of the old ones), 
 although money was reckoned in shekels, very much 
 as in the present day reckonings are made in guineas, 
 although no coin of the value of a guinea is in use. 
 The tetradrachm or stater was, as has been already 
 said, nearly equivalent in value to the shekel, and it 
 was almost certainly this coin that was intended in the 
 passages Matt. xxvi. 15, and xxvii. 3, 5, 6, 9, in which 
 the betrayal is named. 
 
 Before leaving the series of Greek coins named in 
 the New Testament, there is one more to which 
 attention must be given. 
 
 The smallest coin current in Athens was the lepton, 
 the seventh part of the chalctis (xaAKo's). The name 
 of this Greek coin is twice used in the New Testament, 
 both passages describing the gift of the widow into 
 the chest at the Temple, and translated ' two mites,' 
 AeTjra bvo o eori KoS/oa/n-rjs. It is, however, perfectly 
 certain that the actual coins cast into the chest were 
 not Greek lepta, inasmuch as the people were not 
 permitted to bring any but Jewish coins into the 
 Temple precincts. The coins of their conquerors 
 were not permitted, and hence the need of the ' tables 
 of the money-changers ' (see p. 75). The coins struck 
 by the Maccabaean ruler Alexander Jannaeus (B.C. 
 105-78), who was known on his coins as Jonathan only, 
 were very popular with the Jews for Temple gifts, 
 inasmuch as they were so thoroughly Jewish in their
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 65 
 
 inscriptions and devices. The smallest copper coin 
 of this prince is probably the one to which allusion is 
 made by the Synoptists, Mark xii. 42, Luke xii. 6, 
 and xxi. 2. 
 
 The coin is here represented. 
 
 COIN OF ALEXANDER JANN^EUS. 
 
 Obv rurw 
 
 jmra 
 
 TilTI 
 
 Jonathan Hakkohen Haggadol Vecheber 
 Hajehudim Jonathan the High Priest 
 and the Confederation (or Senate) of the 
 Jews, within a wreath of olive. 
 Rev. Two cornucopiae and a poppy head. 
 The Gospels of Ulphilas, the Gothic Bishop of 311, 
 in rendering the passage Mark xii. 42, give the 
 value of the Anglo-Saxon styca and penny. 
 
 tpegen j~ticaj~, ^ ir 1 , peojVSun^ pennmger-. 
 
 It should be borne in mind, in considering this 
 gift of the widow, that it was a voluntary offering, and 
 not a tribute, so far at least as any offering to God 
 can be voluntary. It may perhaps be taken as a type 
 of the offertory of the Church, the contributions of 
 
 E
 
 66 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 the faithful, the giving to God of His own, laid on His 
 altar, a holy oblation acceptable to the Lord. 
 
 Leaving Greek currency, it is well to consider the 
 Roman money named in the New Testament ; and 
 attention is at once claimed by the words which are 
 in the Authorized Version very much mistranslated as 
 farthing. 
 
 In Matt. x. 29 there is the word assarion, trans- 
 lated farthing, Ov^l bvo <TTpav6ia dcrcraptou TrcoAeirat ; 
 ' Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? ' 
 
 In Luke xii. 6 is the same word in the Authorized 
 Version. The Vulgate gives it more accurately as 
 ' nonne quinque passeres veneunt dipondio?" 1 'Are not 
 five sparrows sold for a dipondius (two farthings) ? ' 
 as the word here used is the name of the coin 
 equivalent to two assaria that is, a dipondius. 
 
 In Matt. v. 26 and Mark xii. 42 ' the uttermost 
 farthing,' and ' two mites, which make one farthing,' a 
 third word is used, Kobpavrrjs, again translated ' farthing.' 
 Here, therefore, are no less than three coins, the as 
 or assarion, the dipondius or two-as piece, and the 
 quadrans or fourth of an as, all translated with much 
 confusion by one English word, farthing. 
 
 The as or assarion was the original Roman coin. 
 It was at one time the unit in Roman numeration 
 both of weight and currency, and very early ones 
 bearing the devices 
 
 Obv. The head of Janus Bifrons, 
 
 Rev. The prow of a ship and the figure i,
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 67 
 
 are known weighing nearly a pound each, and struck 
 in bronze. 
 
 In process of time the as was reduced in size from 
 its unwieldy original character, until after many re- 
 ductions, both in size and value, it became a coin of 
 about the size of an English halfpenny. The Greeks 
 adopted the name of the coin, and used it upon their 
 autonomous coins, calling them aao-apiav. Whether, 
 therefore, the coin to which allusion is made in Matt. 
 x. 29 was the Greek inscribed coin of Antioch in Syria, 
 or the Roman inscribed coin bearing the mystic 
 letters S. C. (Senatus consulto), it is not possible with 
 an absolute certainty to tell. Illustrations of each are 
 given. The first, the Roman coin, is one of Augustus, 
 
 COIN OF AUGUSTUS. l 
 
 bearing the emperor's name and titles, and the second 
 the Greek inscribed one of Gadara in Decapolis. 
 
 This latter coin is one of peculiar interest, inasmuch 
 as Gadara (TAAAPA) was named in Holy Scripture, 
 Mark v. i. Issued by a pagan population, it bears 
 the head of Nero NEPHN Caesar (KAI)ZAP on the 
 obverse, and the goddess Astarte on the reverse, 
 
 1 This block has been drawn a little too large. 
 E 2
 
 68 
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 holding a garland and cornucopia, and the date 
 letters. 
 
 COIN OF GADARA. 
 
 The second word translated ' farthing ' is in Luke 
 xii. 6, dcro-apiW 8vo, and here it is quite clear a single 
 coin, value two assaria, is intended by the expression. 
 The Greek assaria were so issued, but 
 although the value of the piece may 
 have been i, 3, or 3 assaria, and was so 
 designated upon its face, yet in many 
 cases the size of the coin altered not, 
 and the coin of the largest value was the 
 same size as the coin of the smallest. 
 An illustration is given of an African 
 coin, issued about the time of Julius 
 Caesar, in order to show the size of 
 the dipondius. 
 
 In the third passage there is a dis- 
 tinctively Roman coin mentioned by 
 its Greek name. The passages are in 
 Matt. v. 26 and Mark xii. 42, and the 
 word used is KobpavTrjs, the Latin quadrans, the fourth 
 part of a Roman as. 
 
 Cicero writes that in his time this was the smallest 
 Roman coin (Plutarch in Cic. xxix. 26). 
 
 COIN OF JUBA 
 KING OF NUMIDIA.
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 69 
 
 This coin weighed about 33 grains, and may be 
 roughly estimated as having a value of about three- 
 quarters of a farthing, while the assarion weighed 
 about 140 grains, and would have a value of about 
 three-quarters of a penny, and the dipondius was 
 worth two assaria. This quadrans was the smallest- 
 sized Roman bronze coin, and much smaller than an 
 English farthing. 
 
 The Roman penny or denarius is repeatedly named 
 in Holy Scripture. 
 
 a. The parable of the unforgiving servant, ' an 
 hundred pence,' Matt, xviii. 28. 
 
 b. The labourers in the vineyard, ' a penny a day,' 
 Matt. xx. 2, 9, 10, 13. 
 
 c. The tribute money, 'a penny,' Matt. xxii. 19; 
 Mark xii. 15 ; Luke xx. 24. 
 
 d. The feeding of the five thousand, ' two hundred 
 pennyworth of bread,' Mark vi. 37 ; John vi. 7. 
 
 e. The value of the box of ointment, 'three hundred 
 pence,' Mark xiv. 5 ; John xii. 5. 
 
 /. The parable to Simon, 'five hundred pence,' 
 ' fifty pence,' Luke vii. 41. 
 g. The Good Samaritan's gift, 'two pence,' Luke 
 
 x. 35- 
 h. The price of wheat and barley at the opening of 
 
 the seal in heaven, ' a penny,' Rev. vi. 6. 
 
 There is no doubt whatever as to the coin that is 
 here named. In every case it is the Roman denarius, 
 and it would have been far better had the translators
 
 7 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 used this word denarius rather than the misleading 
 one of penny, as the coin named was in every case of 
 silver, and not of copper. One of these denarii is 
 here depicted. 
 
 DENARIUS OR PENNY. 
 
 The denarius was the legal and obligatory tribute 
 money that the Jews were compelled to pay to their 
 conquerors the Romans, and was typical of their 
 subjugation and conquest. Tiberius was the emperor 
 reigning in Rome at the time that the words of our 
 Divine Lord were spoken as to the tribute money 
 (see above c), and it is very probable that the coin 
 that was presented to the Great Teacher was a coin 
 of the reigning emperor. 
 
 The illustration may then depict the coin that was 
 brought to our Lord by the Pharisees, and illustrate 
 the denarius named in each of the other passages. 
 The inscription reads as follows : 
 
 Obv. Tl[berius] CAESAR Divi AUGJusti] Ffilius] 
 
 AUGUSTUS ; 
 
 that is to say, Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the 
 god Augustus. 
 
 Rev. PONTIF[ex] MAXIM [us] = Pontifex Maximus, 
 Chief Priest.
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 71 
 
 The missing letters of the abbreviated words are 
 supplied in brackets. 
 
 The wonderfully searching reply of the Great 
 Teacher to the question that was put to Him is at 
 once apparent. If they, the Jews, had by circulating 
 and using Roman money bearing upon it the head and 
 name of Caesar acknowledged the rule of the Imperial 
 Csesar, they had themselves practically answered 
 their own ensnaring question. This coin may be taken 
 as roughly equivalent in value to about eightpence 
 halfpenny of English money. It was the pay of 
 a Roman soldier per day, and was considered very 
 liberal recompense, if not extravagant pay, in the time 
 of our Lord, for an agricultural labourer per day : see 
 Matt. xx. 2, 9, 10, 13 (above b\ and Tobit v. 14 for 
 a similar passage. It was the usual and chief money of 
 account in use at the time, and larger amounts were 
 rendered in multiples of denarii (see above d, e,f). Its 
 weight was about sixty grains. The reference in the 
 Apocalypse is to famine prices of food, the excessive 
 taxation, to which Gibbon alludes at length as one of 
 the causes of the fall of Rome, having since the time 
 of Caracalla produced great scarcity, and but a chaenix, 
 or about a quart of wheat, could be obtained for 
 a denarius. 
 
 There is another mention of this coin in the New 
 Testament that would not be at first noticed. It is 
 in the Acts of the Apostles (xix. 19), and the word 
 used is apyvpia ' silvers,' translated pieces of silver.
 
 73 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 There is but little doubt, however, that denarii are 
 here intended, and the phrase would be more correctly 
 translated using the name of that coin. It is quite 
 possible that the ten lost pieces of silver drachms 
 or drams (bpa^iJ-as 8e/ca), Luke xv. 8, 9, to which 
 allusion has already been made, may have been 
 denarii, because, as I have pointed out, the value at 
 that time of the denarius and dram was equivalent. 
 
 The references to the coin cannot fail to bring to 
 mind many important thoughts. 
 
 The penitential love of Mary Magdalene (see 
 passages and/), the word of wondrous truth that 
 briefly inculcates our duty to God and the State (see 
 passages c], the generous gift of the Good Samaritan 
 (see passage g\ the lavish payment made by the 
 Divine Creator to the workers in His vineyard, 
 infinitely exceeding their merit or right (see pas- 
 sages 6), the blessings of temporal and sustaining 
 food in hunger, and of spiritual refreshment in His 
 Holy Church (see passages d], and the gift of His 
 pardoning mercy to us unfaithful and unprofit- 
 able servants (see passage a). Many of the New 
 Testament coins, as has been wisely said, connect 
 our thoughts with distinct teaching in the sayings 
 and life of our Blessed Saviour. The shekel calls 
 to mind the price paid in the Temple for His 
 betrayal. The didrachma, His earnest endeavour to 
 reclaim the lost child from sin, under the emblem 
 of the lost coin. The lepton, His words as to
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 73 
 
 worshipping God with our substance, and the duty 
 of charity. The stater, the double lesson of willing 
 service to God, His house, and His Church, and 
 the warning against the covetousness that would for 
 gain of silver sacrifice the Lord of Glory ; and the 
 denarius, the conscientious submission to the sovereign 
 power, not less as an act of brotherly love than as 
 distinctively a part of Christianity. 
 
 It may be remarked by the way that the title of 
 Saviour or Redeemer was not one of itself unknown 
 to the Greeks, although the idea of Divine self- 
 sacrifice was not in the least anticipated by them in 
 their mythology. 
 
 The following coin, bearing the head of Apollo, 
 describes him as Saviour, and reads ATTOAAHN 
 ZHTHP. 
 
 COIN REPRESENTING APOLLO WITH THE TITLE OF SAVIOUR. 
 
 When the New Testament speaks of money in 
 a general sense, it does not always use the same word. 
 In the following passages the word used is apyvpiov 
 (silver).
 
 74 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Matt. xxv. 18-27 The parable of the talents, the 
 word talent being only used as signifying a certain 
 weight of silver. 
 
 Matt, xxviii. 12-15 Money given to the soldiers 
 by the elders to prevent the story of the Resurrection 
 being spread abroad. 
 
 Mark xiv. n ; Luke xxii. 5 Money promised to 
 Judas by the priests. 
 
 Matt. x. 9 ; Luke ix. 3 Money not to be carried 
 by the apostles when on their journey. 
 
 Luke xix. 15-23 Parable of the ten pieces of 
 money (silver). 
 
 Acts vii. 1 6 The mention by St. Stephen in his 
 address of the purchase by Abraham of the cave 
 of Machpelah. , 
 
 Acts viii. 20 St. Peter's words to Simon Magus. 
 
 In Matt. xxvi. 9, the phrase is ' this ointment might 
 have sold for muchl and money is understood ; the 
 parallel passages showing that denarii were intended. 
 
 In two passages in St. Mark the word used is xaA/coV, 
 copper money. 
 
 Mark vi. 8 The prohibition to the apostles to 
 carry money. 
 
 Mark xii. 41 The gifts to the Treasury. 
 
 This word also occurs in Matt. x. 9, in conjunction 
 with the words ' gold and silver.' 
 
 In the former set of passages reference is clearly 
 made to silver money that is to say, to drachms, 
 staters, denarii, or the old shekels of Ezra, if any
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 75 
 
 remained ; in the latter passages the Herodian 
 copper coinage, or the small and unimportant copper 
 money of Greek or Roman issue. The lessons 
 impressed by the latter passages may well derive 
 an added value by the unimportant character and 
 trivial worth of the money to which the evangelist 
 alludes. 
 
 In the Acts of the Apostles, the word translated 
 ' money' in iv. 37, where it was laid by Barnabas 
 at the feet of the apostles, should be more strictly 
 rendered price, value, full value, the amount actually 
 obtained, the word used being xPW a (pretium). This 
 word is used also in its significance of the price or 
 value of a man, the price that will obtain favour, 
 in the passage where Felix hoped to have received 
 a bribe as to the freedom of St. Paul that is to say, 
 to receive his price, Acts xxiv. 26, 
 
 The word apyvpiov is also to be found in four other 
 passages, and in all these reference is made to silver 
 money, and the word is rightly translated ' silver.' The 
 passages are : 
 
 Acts iii. 6 ' Silver and gold have I none.' 
 Acts xx. 33 ' I have coveted no man's silver.' 
 Jas. v. 3 ' Your gold and silver is cankered/ 
 i Pet. i. 18 'Corruptible things, as silver and 
 gold.' 
 
 Allusion has already been briefly made to a further 
 reference to money the interesting passages as to 
 the ' tables of the money-changers.' Mr. Madden was
 
 76 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 one of the earliest to point out the striking divergence 
 between the three words used in the New Testament, 
 all of which the Authorized Version translates in 
 a similar way. 
 
 In Matt. xxv. 27 is used the word TpcnreCiTes (trape- 
 zites, exchangers), and this word is also used by 
 St. Luke in xix. 23, where ' paying into the bank ' 
 is the translation. Here is seen a word that refers 
 to private bankers or money exchangers, and is simply 
 derived from the table, rpa^^a, at which the bankers 
 sat, in the same manner as we derive our words bank, 
 banker, &c. from the bench of the Italian money- 
 changer (e. g. banco, rotta ' broken bench ' in Italian, 
 because the money-changer's bench was broken on 
 his failure, hence ' bankrupt '). 
 
 The original word Tpairffa (trapeza) occurs in Matt. 
 xxi. 12, Mark xi. 15, and John ii. 15, where reference 
 is made to the money-changers in the Temple ; but 
 in these passages it simply means the tables at which 
 the men sat, and is translated correctly ' tables.' 
 
 The official money-changers, to which reference 
 must next be made, had their tables, as did the 
 private exchangers ; but it is important to notice 
 that Matt. xxv. 27 and Luke xix. 23 refer to the 
 private traders, whereas these next passages refer to 
 men of a different standing. 
 
 The recognized officials who changed foreign, i.e. 
 pagan, money into Jewish money, which alone could 
 be used in the Temple, are called by the evangelists
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 77 
 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark KOAAV/SIOTOW (kollibiston}. 
 This word is derived from KoXXvfios (collybus), and the 
 collybus was in all probability a tiny silver coin, the 
 very smallest piece of silver money in use, but not other- 
 wise alluded to in the New Testament. St. John in ii. 
 14 and 15 uses another word, Kep/xanoras, and for money 
 the similar word TO Kep/^ia. This word Kep^artcrrds is 
 derived from Keipco, 'to cut off or cut up small/ the noun 
 being cut-up pieces, i.e. small pieces of money. This 
 was the official and technical term for those who 
 certainly had an official status, as /coAAu/3ioT77s was 
 a more ordinary term ; but as St. John clearly alludes 
 to a different occasion from that named by the evan- 
 gelists St. Matthew and St. Mark, he may be perhaps 
 alluding to a public State banker at the Temple, and 
 who more than the others would have conceived it his 
 right to trade within the holy precincts. 
 
 The necessary changing of the foreign money and 
 money of their conquerors into local Jewish money 
 had degenerated into a vicious and usurious habit, 
 and was carried on at last actually inside the Temple. 
 It received the strongest condemnation from our 
 Blessed Lord, and by Him the bankers, private, public 
 or official, were driven from His Father's house. 
 
 As three words are in the foregoing passages used 
 in speaking of the money-changers, so three separate 
 words are used in the New Testament in speaking of 
 the treasury or treasure. 
 
 i. The first yaCo<uAcmoj> (gazophylacium], from yda
 
 78 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 'a treasure' and $uAdo-<rco 'to keep,' is used in the 
 references to the gift of the widow's mite into the 
 treasury when our Lord was sitting near by (Mark xii. 
 41-43 ; Luke xxi. I ; John viii. 20). The noun yafa 
 appears in Acts viii. 27, in speaking of the treasure of 
 Candace. 
 
 The similar word in Hebrew appears often in the 
 Old Testament for treasures, as for example in Ezra 
 v. 17, vi. i, vii. 20 ; Esther iii. 9, iv. 7 ; Ezek. xxvii. 
 24, A.V. ' chests ' ; i Chron. xxviii. n. It is strictly 
 a Persian, and not a Hebrew word, pronounced in 
 Persian ganza, and by the Hebrew, therefore, genes 
 (Esther) ty. or g'naz (Ezra) T33. The word occurs also 
 in Nehemiah, and often in the Apocryphal books of 
 Maccabees. 
 
 2. In Matt, xxvi-i. 6, speaking of the money 
 returned by Judas, the priests said, ' It is not lawful 
 to put them into the treasury,' and here the word 
 used is Kopfiavav, which again appears in Mark vii. 1 1 , 
 ' It is Corban,' Kopfiav. 
 
 The allusion here is, not to the general treasury for 
 the Temple service, or for wood, offerings, or incense, 
 but to gifts specially dedicated to God by promise, 
 vow, or solemn offering what would be better under- 
 stood by us as an oblation or a gift offered at the 
 altar. 
 
 3. The third word is Oyo-avpos (tttesaurus), that which 
 is laid up, saved, treasured, preserved, from 0eVis ei? 
 avpiov, ' laying up for the morrow,' and is used as to
 
 COINS NAMED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 79 
 
 valuables and treasures of personal, and not dedicated 
 property (Matt. ii. n; vi. 19, 20; xii. 35; xiii. 44, 52; 
 xix. 21 ; Mark x. 21 ; Luke vi. 45 ; xii. 33 ; xviii. 22 ; 
 2 Cor. iv. 7 ; Col. ii. 3 ; Heb. xi. 26). 
 
 To conclude on New Testament money, the refer- 
 ences to gold must be given. 
 
 Our Lord forbade His disciples to carry gold (Matt. 
 x. 9), and St. Peter stated that he possessed none (Acts 
 iii. 6). St. Paul assured the disciples that he coveted no 
 man's gold (Acts xx. 33); and there are two references 
 to gold in the Epistles (Jas. v. 3 and i Pet. i. 18). 
 
 The references are all to gold money generically, and 
 not to a coin. The Roman aurei were probably well 
 known to the Jews at the time. The talent, it must 
 be remembered, was never a coin, but a weight or sum 
 of money; see Matt, xviii. 23-35; xxv. 14-30; Luke 
 xix. 13-24.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 
 
 THE revolts of the Jews against the Roman power, 
 which took place first in A.D. 66, do not concern the 
 purpose of this book, as it is not written to describe 
 all the coins issued by the Jews as a nation. 
 
 COINS OF ELEAZAR THE PRIEST. 
 
 The first revolt was led by Eleazar, son of Ananias 
 the high priest, before whom St. Paul was brought, 
 and of whom he said, 'God shall smite thee, thou 
 whited wall,' Acts xxiii. 3. The silver and copper 
 coins of Eleazar are here depicted. These inscriptions
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 
 
 8l 
 
 are in Hebrew, and refer to the first, second or third 
 year of the Redemption or Deliverance of Israel. 
 
 The coins struck by the Sanhedrim bear a repre- 
 sentation of the Temple, around which the affection 
 of the Jews still lived, and to save which they rallied 
 their forces. The Sanhedrim coins are shown below, 
 
 COIN OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REVOLT. 
 
 COIN OF SIMON OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REVOLT. 
 
 with Hebrew inscriptions recording the deliverance of 
 Zion, and with the representation of one of the Temple 
 vessels of gold or silver. 
 
 Other coins issued in this revolt are shown below, 
 merely as illustrative of the period, and for the sake 
 of the characteristic Jewish emblems of a vine leaf,
 
 82 
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 a lyre, a palm-tree, and Temple vases and vessels 
 that appear upon them. 
 
 COINS OF SIMON NASI. 
 
 COIN OF SIMON OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REVOLT. 
 
 COIN OF SIMON OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REVOLT. 
 
 COIN OF SIMON OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REVOLT 
 (YEAR 67-68). 
 
 COIN OF SIMON OF THE SECOND YEAR OF THE REVOLT 
 (YEAR 67-68).
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 83 
 
 COIN OF SIMON OF THE THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLT 
 (YEAR 68-69). 
 
 In A.D. 70 Titus besieged Jerusalem, and after 
 most heroic defence the city fell, the famine having 
 subdued the dauntless energy of its inhabitants. The 
 Temple was destroyed, and the sufferings depicted by 
 Josephus were of the most terrible character. 
 
 Bearing in mind the occasion upon which our 
 Divine Lord wept over the ultimate fate of the Holy 
 City, in view of His great prophecy, that ' there shall 
 not be left one stone upon another that shall not be 
 thrown down,' it may be of interest if specimens are 
 given of the Roman coins struck and issued to com- 
 memorate the fall of Jerusalem and the capture of the 
 city by Vespasian and Titus. 
 
 The illustrations are of the obverses only of three 
 coins of Vespasian, and depict the captive Jew and 
 Jewess seated in different attitudes of despair. 
 
 In one the Roman emperor or a soldier is standing 
 on guard by a captive Jew, and in another the Jew has 
 his hands bound behind his back. In two examples 
 the palm-tree is shown, and in the third a trophy of 
 arms. What a wealth of meaning there is in the terse, 
 distinct, defiant inscription, Judcea Capta, Captured 
 Judaea! The words of the prophet Isaiah (iii. 26), 
 
 F 2
 
 84 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 'she being desolate shall sit upon the ground, 5 are 
 strikingly illustrated by the devices on these coins. 
 
 OBVERSES OF THREE COINS OF VESPASIAN. 
 
 A further revolt of the Jews during the time of 
 Hadrian need not be mentioned, save for one circum-
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 85 
 
 stance. The leader, Simon Bar Cochab, in A. D. 132 
 announced himself as the Messiah, calling himself the 
 son of a star (Bar Cochab), and quoting as his 
 
 COINS OF THE SECOND REVOLT. 
 
 warrant the words in Num. xxiv. 1 7, ' The Star out of 
 Jacob.' His coins bear Jewish emblems, the palm- 
 tree, lyre, vine-leaf, wheat, grapes, and the Temple, 
 and noticeably the star above the Temple ; and some
 
 86 
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 are depicted here, which possess a certain interest. 
 The trumpets used in the Temple service appear, it 
 will be noticed, on one coin. 
 
 COINS OF THE SECOND REVOLT. 
 
 To complete the desolation of the city after this 
 revolt had been subdued, Hadrian built a new city on 
 the ruins of Jerusalem, calling it ALlia Capitolina, 
 erecting a temple in it to Jupiter, forming the district 
 into a Roman colony, and so crushing completely the 
 ideas and affections of the Jews, and setting their 
 dearest traditions and their faith at defiance. 
 
 The copper coin of Hadrian here shown com- 
 
 COPPER COIN OF HADRIAN. 
 
 memorates this outrageous action, and the founding of 
 the colony of ALlia. Capitolina.
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 
 
 There are certain passages in the Bible which receive 
 remarkable confirmation from coins. It is a well- 
 known fact that in many instances historical facts 
 have their chief illustration in coins, and in a few 
 cases coins are almost the only remaining pictorial 
 representation of what is known to have existed. 
 
 The historical accuracy of the Bible, and its un- 
 failing truth, derive considerable support from the 
 coins that remain in existence ; and it will be well to 
 briefly point out a few noteworthy instances in which 
 
 PHRYGIAN COIN. 
 
 coins illustrate and ratify statements in Holy Writ. 
 A very curious and rare Phrygian coin, struck at 
 Apamea (called also Cibotos, an ark) in Phrygia, in 
 the reign of Septimus Severus(A.D. 193-211), bears 
 an illustration of the ark. 
 
 The reverse shows a vessel floating on the water, 
 and containing two persons, two others (or the same 
 two at another period) standing on dry ground. On
 
 88 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 the ark is the word NUE (Noah), and above it are the 
 dove with an olive branch and the raven. The raven, 
 it will be seen, is resting on the ark, as it did not 
 return into the ark, but going to and fro doubtless 
 rested on the ark. The tradition preserved in the 
 Sibylline books was to the effect that it was near to 
 Apamea that the ark rested. 
 
 "Eon 8e rt 4>pux t/7 ? ? fTH rjTreipoio j/,eA.cuznjs 
 'HAt/3aTcu> Tavvp.fJKs opos 'Apapar Se KaAeirar 
 "Ev6a <Ae/3es /xeyaAou Trora/xou Mapcruao 
 Tou 8e Kt/3coros 
 
 which may be translated 
 
 'There is on the mainland of Black Phrygia 
 a steep and far-stretching mountain which is called 
 Ararat. Here arise the springs of the great river 
 Marsyas. Upon its lofty top the ark rested as the 
 waters receded.' 
 
 TYRIAN COINS. 
 
 The great god Baal, of frequent mention in the 
 Old Testament, is portrayed upon the coins of the
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 
 
 89 
 
 Tyrian isle Cosyra, and the goddess Ashtaroth on 
 a coin of Phoenicia. 
 
 In this cut, which is enlarged from the coin, she is 
 
 PHCENICIAN COIN (ENLARGED). 
 
 depicted as erect, holding a staff or sceptre on one 
 coin, and in her state car with canopy in the other. 
 
 A coin of Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138) gives a repre- 
 sentation of the temple of Mount Gerizim in Samaria, 
 mentioned in St. John iv. 20. 
 
 COIN OF ANTONINUS P.IUS. 
 
 The inscriptions may be translated : 
 
 The Emperor Caesar Augustus Antoninus Pius. 
 Money of Flavia Neapolis of Palestine in Syria.
 
 90 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 To illustrate the events described in the i9th chap- 
 ter of the Acts of the Apostles two coins may be 
 taken. On the first may be read NERHN KAICAP, 
 Nero Caesar, and on the reverse (Money) of the 
 Ephesians, NEHKOPOI, wardens or keepers of the 
 Temple. 
 
 This latter word is translated in verse 35 as 
 ' worshippers.' It is the title given to the Ephesians 1 , 
 first by themselves and afterwards by others, and 
 on which they prided themselves as being keepers, 
 
 EPHESIAN COIN. 
 
 wardens, and guardians of that world-renowned 
 Temple. The word strictly means temple-sweeper, 
 but was considered a title of high honour. The coin 
 above was issued by ^Echmocles Aviola the Pro- 
 consul, who exercised authority in A. D. 54-67, during 
 the very time at which St. Paul was at Ephesus. He 
 is called on the coin avOvTraros, which is the very 
 word used in verse 38, and translated ' deputies.' 
 The letters E (J> (Eph) stand for Ephesus. The other 
 illustration, which, like the first, depicts the Temple of 
 Ephesus, is not a coin, but probably one of the silver
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 
 
 9 1 
 
 charms or mementos that were made by Demetrius 
 and others of his craft in large numbers, for visitors 
 to the temple to purchase (Acts xix. 24, 25). It bears 
 
 EPHESIAN CHARM. 
 
 the name of the city EtbESIflN, and in the repre- 
 sentation of the temple is the figure of Diana. 
 
 Both cuts are therefore unconscious illustrations in 
 
 COIN OF CYPRUS. 
 
 their very words and their devices of the genuine 
 character of the Bible narrative. 
 
 Another interesting corroboration of the verbal
 
 92 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 accuracy of the New Testament can be given from 
 a coin of Cyprus. In Acts xiii. 7, Sergius Paulus 
 is called proconsul or deputy of Cyprus, the word 
 used being again avOvTraros. At that particular 
 moment he was so called ; but a few years earlier 
 deputies of Cyprus had been called propraetors, and 
 not proconsuls. 
 
 At the date of the Bible narrative the title proconsul 
 was in force, and a coin of that time struck by Cominus, 
 KOMINIOZ, acting under Claudius Csesar as ruler of 
 Cyprus, bears the title ANOYfTATOS. 
 
 MEDALS USED AT ISTHMIAN GAMES. 
 
 St. Paul in his Epistles makes frequent mention of 
 the great Isthmian games ; see Heb. xii. i ; Phil. ii. 
 1 6, iii. 14, iv. i ; I Cor. iv. 9, ix. 24-27 ; Gal. v. 7 ;
 
 COINS ILLUSTRATIVE OF BIBLE STORY 93 
 
 i Tim. iv. 8 ; 2 Tim. ii. 5 ; and three representations 
 of medals struck for use at these games may be of 
 interest. 
 
 On these medals are shown the wreath of leaves 
 given to the victor, the name of the peninsula at 
 Corinth at which the games took place, and one of 
 the creatures, a crocodile, chained up for use at the 
 animal fights and contests that were so popular a part 
 of the barbarous sport. 
 
 A coin of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B.C. 280, in whose 
 time the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek 
 by the Seventy, and the Septuagint (LXX) version 
 so obtained, is illustrated. 
 
 COIN OF PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. 
 
 It shows Ptolemy and Berenice on the obverse, and 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus and Arsinoe, their children, on 
 the reverse; the inscription being QEHN AAEA0HN, 
 ' brother divinities.' 
 
 I may fittingly conclude with two Roman medallions 
 bearing upon them the Labarum and the sacred 
 monogram of Christ, the g Chr(ist), first adopted by 
 the Emperor Constantine on his coins and on the 
 Roman standards, as a sign that Christianity had
 
 94 
 
 THE MONEY OF THE BIBLE 
 
 overcome even the paganism of the Roman emperor, 
 and had started on the course of continued victory 
 which is only to end in the subjugation of the entire 
 world to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 PRIMITIVE SYMBOLICAL CROSS. 
 
 THE LABARUM.
 
 INDEX 
 
 ALEXANDER Jannaeus, coins of, 41, 42, 65. 
 
 Alexander the Great, coins of, 31. 
 
 Annius Rufus, coin of, 55. 
 
 Antigonus, reign of, 43. _ 
 
 Antiochus Euergetes, coins of, 32. 
 
 Antoninus Pius, coin of, 89. 
 
 Apollo, head of, on coin, 73. 
 
 Artaxerxes, commission of, 26. 
 
 As, a Roman coin, 66. 
 
 Asmona-an dynasty, pedigree of, 37. 
 
 Augustus, coins of, 61, 67. 
 
 Baal, figure of, on coins, 88. 
 
 Chalcus, a coin, 64. 
 
 Citron, use of, on coins, 36. 
 
 Constantino, coins of, 93. 
 
 Coponius, coin of, 55. 
 
 Copper money, references to, in New 
 
 Testament, 74. 
 Cornucopia, the, on coins, 39. 
 Cup, use of, on coins, 36. 
 Cyprus, coin of, 91. 
 
 Daria, Persian, 25. 
 Denarius, the. 69. 
 Didrachma, the, 59. 
 Dipondius, the, 66. 
 Drachma, the, 59. 
 
 Egyptian ring money, 15. 
 Emazar, coins of, 80. 
 Ephesian coins, 90. 
 Ezra, shekel of time of, 28. 
 
 1 Farthing,' the, 66. 
 Felix, 56: 
 
 Gadara, coin of. 68. 
 
 Gold, references to, in New Testament, 79. 
 
 Gold, shekels of, 22. 
 
 Hadrian, coin of, 86. 
 
 Half-shekel, the, 20, 27 ; of Simon Macca- 
 
 baeus, 35. 
 
 Herod dynasty, the rule of, 42, 43. 
 Herod I, coin of, 44. 
 Herod Archelaus, coin of, 46. 
 Herod Antipas, reign of, 46 ; coin of, 48. 
 Herod Philip II, coin of, 49. 
 Herod Agrippa I, reign of, 50 ; coins of, 
 
 5, 52- 
 
 Herod Agrippa II, coin of, 53. 
 
 Icelandic money, 17. 
 Irish ring money, 18. 
 Isthmian coins, 92. 
 
 Jerusalem, the holy, 29. 
 
 John Hyrcanus, rule of, 39 ; coin of, 40. 
 
 Juba, coin of, 68. 
 
 Judas Aristobulus, coin of, 41. 
 
 Labarum, the, 93. 
 Lepton, the, 64. 
 
 Maccabees, the, 34. 
 Mite, the widow's, 64. 
 Money-changers, 76. 
 
 Nubian ring money, 17. 
 
 Palm-tree, the, use of, on coins, 36. 
 Penny, Anglo-Saxon, 65 ; Roman, 69. 
 Phrygian coin, 87. 
 ' Piece of silver,' the term, 21. 
 Pontius Pilate, coin of, 56. 
 Poppy-head, use of, on coins, 39. 
 Procurators, rule of, 54. 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, coin of, 93. 
 
 Revolts of the Jews, 80 ; coins of the first, 
 
 80 ; of the second, 85, 86. 
 Rhodes, coin of, 61. 
 Ring money, 15. 
 
 Sanhedrim, the, coins of, 81. 
 
 Seleucus I, coin of, 32. 
 
 Shekel, the, 20, 27. 
 
 Silver, references to, in New Testament, 
 
 73. 
 
 Simon Nasi, coins of, 82. 
 Simon Bar Cochab, coins of, 85. 
 Simon Maccabaeus, coins of, 35. 
 Stater, the, 60; of Augustus, 61. 
 
 Talent of gold, worth of, 23. 
 Temple tribute, the, 60. 
 Tetradrachm of Alexander, 32 ; of Seleu- 
 cus, 32 ; of Antiochus, 33. 
 Tetradrachma, the, 59. 
 Tiberius, coin of, 70. 
 
 Vespasian, coins of, 83.
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES 
 
 GENESIS. 
 xiii. 2 18 
 xx. 16 19 
 
 EZRA. 
 11.68,69 25 
 v : i7 78 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 xix. 21 79 
 xx. 2, 9, 10, 13.. 69,71 
 
 ACTS. 
 iii- 6 75, 79 
 
 
 ,,...35 i 
 
 vii. 16-18 26 
 20 78 
 
 xxii. 19 69 
 xxv. 14-30 79 
 
 viii. 20 74 
 27 78 
 
 xxxvii. 28 19 
 
 viii. 26, 27 25 
 
 NEHEMIAH. 
 v. 1 5 26 
 
 ,, 18-27 74 
 
 .. 27 .. ...?6 
 
 ix : 32, 35,38 33 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 
 ,, i 50 
 
 15 63, 64 
 
 ,,13 02 
 
 xii. 35, 36 ..-.15, 22 
 
 VH. 70, 72 25 
 
 x. 30 20 
 
 xxvii. 3, 5,6, 9.. 63, 64 
 6 '..78 
 
 ,,..23 5 
 
 xiii. 7 92 
 
 xxi 19 
 
 ^2 6O 
 
 xxvm. 12-15 74 
 MARK. 
 
 V. 1 67 
 
 vi-8 .-74 
 
 xix. 19 71 
 
 ,,..32 63 
 
 ESTHER. 
 
 iii. 9 78 
 
 xx. 33 75,79 
 
 XXI. I 62 
 
 xxiii. 3 80 
 
 XXX. 13 19, 20, 21 
 
 }3> '5 6 
 XXXV11I. 26 19, 20 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 iv- 7 78 
 
 JOB. 
 xxviii. 15 23 
 
 ,, H 38,47 
 
 .. 17 .. ..4.O 
 
 xxiv. 2 57 
 
 v.37 69 
 
 VH. II 78 
 
 26 76 
 
 ..? *2 
 xxiii. 40-. 36 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 viii. 15 48 
 x. 21 79 
 
 13 53 
 
 
 xi. i? . . 76 
 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 iii. 47 21 
 47, <;o 19 
 
 CANTICLES. 
 ii. I 62 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 XXXV. I 62 
 
 xlviii. 2 29 
 
 
 i CORINTHIANS. 
 iv. 9 92 
 
 .. 4.1 . . . . ..7A 
 
 41-43 78 
 ,, 42.... 65,66,68 
 
 xvii.8 28 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS. 
 iv. 7 79 
 
 10 29 
 xviii. 16 19. 21 
 
 11 74 
 
 xxxi. 50, 51 14 
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 ii. 6, 28 19 
 
 Hi. i 3 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 xxii. 20 21 
 
 LUKE. 
 i. <; . . ... ^8 
 
 xi. 32 46 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 : i, 2 54 
 
 xiv. 24-26 . . . . 16, 19 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 vii. 21 22 
 
 xxvii. 24 78 
 
 in. i, 19.. 38,47,48,49 
 vi. 45 79 
 
 v. 7 93 
 . PHILIPPIANS. 
 " 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 
 
 xxiv. 32 14 
 
 
 
 JUDGES. 
 xvi. 5, 18 19 
 
 HOSEA. 
 xiv. 5 29 
 
 
 
 xii. 6 65, 66 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 ii-3 79 
 
 i TIMOTHY. 
 iv.8 93 
 
 2 TIMOTHY. 
 . 5 93 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 xi. 26 79 
 
 xvu. 2 19 
 i SAMUEL. 
 
 JOEL. 
 iii. 17 30 
 
 33 79 
 xi". 32 47 
 xv.8 59 
 
 ix. 7, 8 20 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 iv. 3, 12 45 
 
 xv. 8, 9 72 
 xvin. 22 79 
 xix. 13-24 79 
 
 ,, 8 19, 20 
 
 2 SAMUEL. 
 xxiv. 24 23 
 
 xi. 12, 13 63 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 ii- i 38 
 ii 79 
 
 i5- 2 3 74 
 ,, 23 76 
 
 2 KINGS. 
 v. 5 22 
 
 xxii. i 65, 78 
 
 .,2* IQ 
 
 v. 26 66, 68 
 
 
 xii. i 92 
 
 
 
 JOHN. 
 ii- 14, 15 77 
 15 76 
 iv. 20 89 
 
 JAMES. 
 v. 3 75,79 
 
 i PETER. 
 
 i CHRONICLES. 
 
 
 ,,29 66 
 xii-35 79 
 
 
 xxix. 7 25 
 
 xin. 44, 52 79 
 xiv. i, 3,0. .38,46,47,49 
 xvu. 24, 27.. -.59, 60 
 xviii. 23-35 79 
 . 28 60 
 
 2 CHRONICLES. 
 xxiv. 9 60 
 xxxiv. 17 21 
 
 Vlll. 2O 78 
 
 REVELATION. 
 vi. 6 . . . . . .6c> 
 
 xii. 5 69 
 xix. 12 . . ,.Z2
 
 BY-PATHS OF BIBLE KNOWLEDGE, 
 
 " The volumes which the Committee of the Religious Tract Society is issuing under the 
 above title fully deserve success. Most of them have been entrusted to scholars who have a 
 special acquaintance with the subjects about which they severally treat." The Athen&um 
 
 1. Cleopatra's Needle. A History of the London Obelisk, 
 
 with an Exposition of the Hieroglyphics. By the Rev. J. KING, 
 
 Lecturer for the Palestine Exploration Fund. With Illustrations. 
 Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 " Mr. King's account of the monument seems fairly full and satisfactory." 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 2. Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments. By A. 
 
 H. SATCE, LL.D. A sketch of the most striking confirmations of the 
 Bible from recent discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Palestine, 
 and Asia Minor. With Facsimiles from Photographs. 35. cloth boards. 
 
 "All who wish to understand the Bible, and all who take an interest in ancient 
 history, ought to procure it." Leeds Mercury. 
 
 3. Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill at Jerusalem. 
 
 By the Rev. J. KING, M.A., Authorised Lecturer for the Palestine Ex- 
 ploration Fund. With Maps, Plans, and Illustrations, 8vo., 2s. 6d. 
 cloth boards. 
 
 "An interesting little book, well deserving of perusal.'' Literary Churchman. 
 
 4. Babylonian Life and History. By E. A. WALLTS BUDGE, 
 
 D. Litt.; Assistant in the Department of Oriental Antiquities, British 
 Museum. Illustrated. Crown 8vo., 35. cloth boards. 
 
 "An admirable addition to this excellent series of ' By-Paths of Bible Knowledge.' 
 Dr. Budge's method is sound, and his book is worthy of his reputation." 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 5. Galilee in the Time of Christ. By SELAH MERRILL, 
 
 D.D., author of " East of the Jordan," etc. With a Map. Crown 8vo., 
 2s. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 " Will be of great service to all who desire to realise the actual surroundings amid 
 which our Lord spent His life on earth, and will be specially useful in correcting some 
 false notions which have obtained wide currency, e.g., the common idea that 
 Nazareth was a small, obscure, and immoral place." Con^regatioiuilist. 
 
 6. Egypt and Syria. Their Physical Features in Relation 
 
 to Bible History. By Sir J. W. DAWSON, F.G.S., F.R.S., President 
 of the British Association, 1886. Crown 8vo. f 35. cloth boards. 
 
 ' We know of nothing at all comparable to it as giving a succinct, clear, and con- 
 stantly instructive account of the geological features of Egypt and Syria in their 
 relations to the Bible, by the hand of a practised geologist." Record. 
 
 " This is one of the most interesting of the series to which it belongs. It is the re- 
 sult of personal observation, and the work of a practised geological observer.' 
 
 British Quarterly Review.
 
 7. Assyria : Its Princes, Priests, and People. By A. 
 
 H. SAYCE, M.A., LL.D., author of "Fresh Light from Ancient Monu- 
 ments," "Introduction to Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther," etc. Illus- 
 trated. 33 cloth boards. 
 
 " A little masterpiece, it presents with scientific accuracy, and yet in a thoroughly 
 popular form, all that is of most essential significance in the realised information 
 respecting that old-world history and life." Christian Leader. 
 
 8. The Dwellers by the Nile. Chapters on the Life, 
 
 Literature, History, and Customs of Ancient Egypt. By E. A. WALLIS 
 BUDGE, M.A., Assistant in Department of Oriental Antiquities, Brithn 
 Museum. With many Illustrations. Crown 8vo., 35. cloth boards. 
 
 " A little book that contains a vast amount of information respecting that historic 
 land, Egypt. . . . The history and explanation of the hieroglyphics and the dis- 
 covery of their interpretation is lucidly and ably told.' 1 Times. 
 
 9. The Diseases of the Bible. By Sir J. RISDON BENNETT, 
 
 Ex-Fresident of the Royal College of Physicians. Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. 
 cloth boards. 
 
 10. Trees and Plants of the Bible. By W. H. GROSER, 
 
 B.Sc. Illustrated. 33. cloth boards. 
 
 IT. Animals of the Bible. By H. CHICHESTER HART, 
 
 Naturalist to Sir G. Nares' Arctic Expedition and Professor Hull's 
 Palestine Expedition. Illustrated. Crown 8vo., 35. cloth boards. 
 
 12. The Hittites ; or, The Story of a Forgotten Empire. By 
 
 A. H. SAYCE, LL.D. Illustrated. Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 13. The Times of Isaiah, as illustrated from Contemporary 
 
 Monuments. By A. H. SAYCE, LL.D., author of "Fresh Light from 
 the Ancient Monuments," " The Hittites : a Story of a Forgotten 
 Empire," etc. With Map. Crown Svo., 2s. cloth boards. 
 
 14. Modern Discoveries on the Site of Ancient 
 
 Ephesus. By the late J. T. WOOD, F.S.A., author of "Discoveries 
 at Ephesus." With thirteen Illustrations. Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 15. Early Bible Songs. By A. H. DRYSDALE, M.A., author 
 
 of " Paul's Epistle to Philemon." Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 16. The Races of the Old Testament. By A. H. SAYCE, 
 
 LL.D. With Illustrations from Photographs by Mr. FLINDERS PETRIE. 
 Crown 8vo., 33. cloth boards. 
 
 17. The Life and Times of Joseph in the Light of 
 
 Egyptian Lore. By the Rev. II. G. TOMKINS. Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. 
 cloth boards. 
 
 18. Social Life among the Assyrians and Babylonians. 
 
 By Professor SAYCE, LL.D. Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 (OTHER VOLUMES ARE IN PREPARATION.) 

 
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