Show us your Jesus era coins. Now and then.

GulfRasta · June 16, 2022 6:39AM

According to the Bible, Judas sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. Would that be Roman coins?
Denarius?
Then I remembered this.
" And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s. "
When Jesus said his famous quote,
“Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”
Even with Jesus is about follow the money.
Any Jesus Christ era coins out there.

Also I'm Rasta. Halie Selassie I is our Jesus incarnate. Anyone have any Selassie coins?

Sapyx · June 16, 2022 7:36AM

The coins usually sold as "thirty pieces of silver" coins are shekels of Tyre, rather than Roman denarii. That's because by the time of Jesus, the Roman denarius was slightly debased; not by much, but enough for it to be considered too debased for the Jews to accept as Temple money; the Torah required all payments to the Temple be made in pure un-debased silver, and the Tyrian shekel (or tetradrachm) was still made of finer silver.

There are a lot of "coins of the time of Jesus" around. Those actually issued during Jesus' lifetime are usually more expensive, as everybody wants to own "a coin that Jesus might have touched", and the coin dealers all know this. The "Tribute penny", mentioned in the bible passage you've quoted, is usually regarded as the denarius issued by emperor Tiberius with Livia seated on the reverse. Unlike most other Roman emperors, Tiberius didn't issue too many different coinage designs, so "Tribute pennies" are actually one of the most common denarii out there. They're also one of the most expensive, simply because they're mentioned in the Bible and everyone wants one.

There are other "Biblical coins", such as the "widow's mite"; these are usually reckoned to be the small copper leptas of Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus, who reigned 70 years before Jesus was born but who issued so many lepta that they would have still been in circulation in Jesus' lifetime. The Roman provincial governors also issued lepta and prutah coins, which could also be classifiable as "widows mites".

Finally, yes, coins of Emperor Heile Sealssie are relatively easy to obtain.