Widows Mite Coin Jewelry

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." (Mark 12:41)

These coins remind us of the true nature of giving. They may gave bought a day's grain for the widow. Instead, they earned her a place in history as the most generous of the Temple's patrons.

The Widow's mite is the popular name given to two different but very similar coins, both minted during the reign of the Judean King Alexander Jannaeus, also known as Alexander Jannai/Yannai, King and High Priest of Israel from 103-76 B.C. His full name may have been Jonathan, though scholars are unclear on that point. He was the first of the Jewish kings to employ the eight-rayed star in the symbolism on coins minted during his reign.

The two coins that are most often called widow's mites are the lepton and the prutah. The lepton is the smaller of the two, averaging in size about the diameter of a pencil eraser - less than ¼”. The prutah is larger, often as large as ½ inch in diameter, and is worth considerably more than the lepton. Both featured similar markings - an eight-spoked wheel (or an 8-rayed star) within a diadem on one side and a reversed anchor on the reverse. This was in keeping with Jewish religious tradition, which forbade the depiction of any animal or person in decoration.

The lepton was the smallest denomination of coin minted in that period. It did not have a set value, but was rather valued by its weight when combined with other coins. The shape is usually irregularly round, though some nearly square examples have been found. The markings are very often off center, to the point where only part of the star or anchor is actually marked on the coin. In fact, a perfectly round lepton with centered markings is most likely a fake, according to most ancient coin experts.

Prutahs were slightly larger, and in the best preserved specimens it is possible to see the lettering on both the front of the coin and the reverse. Around the anchor on the front are impressed the letters BASILEWS ALEXANDROU (King Alexander), while the reverse is imprinted with the Hebrew lettering translated as Yehonatan the king.