Phoenicia, Tyre. Silver Half Shekel, Dated CY 37 (90/89 BC). 22mm, 7,43 g.

Description

Phoenicia, Tyre. Silver Half Shekel, Dated CY 37 (90/89 BC). 22mm, 7,43 g.
Laureate head of Melkart right, lion skin around neck /
Eagle standing left on prow, holding palm branch,
Club of Herakles to left, date above, ΤΥPΟΥ ΙΕΡΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΣΥΛΟΥ
(“Holy and inviolable Tyre”);
the Half Shekel was the official Temple Tax denomination accepted at the
Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
Judas' 30 Pieces of Silver:
The Famous Biblical "Shekel of Tyre"
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The silver shekel minted in Tyre, Phoenicia was the purest and most desirable coin in the ancient world.
The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem only accepted these coins as tribute because of their extreme purity.
For this reason, when Judas betrayed Jesus, he demanded to be paid only in this type of coin. Of course it is impossible to tell if any of these specimens were among those original 30 coins, but every example shown below was indeed circulating there during the time.