Oriental.
67. Siamese coins; 68. Chinese tael; 69. Widow’s mite; 70. Jewish shekel; 70a. Herod the Great, 37 B C.; 70b. Herod Archelaus, 4 B. C.; 71. Glass coin, Egypt; 72. Gold of Alnaser, A. D. 1222; 73. Dirhem of Mahomet V., A. D. 854; 74. Dirhem of Walid, Caliph of Damascus, A. D. 713; 75. Haroun Alraschid, Koran text, 806; 76. Fire Worshippers, A. D. 300; 77. Gold of Japan, 1634; 78. Gravel stone of Burmah; 79. Late coin of Turkey; 80. Mexican dollar used in China; 81. Coin of Cochin China.
The most notable coin in this case, and perhaps the most celebrated coin in the world, is the “Widow’s Mite.” Its name bespeaks its commercial insignificance. Yet visitors every day, upon entering the Cabinet of the Mint, ask first to see the “Widow’s Mite.”
The following letter from Wm. E. Du Bois, will be found of interest to the reader.
THE WIDOW’S MITE.
Sir: The curators of the mint cabinet do not consent to the intimation in a statement recently made that their widow’s mite is not the real coin.
The expression of a doubt as to any received fact is thought to be a sign of superior insight. Hence we have so much “destructive criticism,” a good deal of it being fatal to the critic himself.
The widow’s mite in our showcase of specialties, always attracting much attention, is precisely what the Scriptures speak of—a lepton, the smallest of Greek and Syriac coins. The name comes from leptos, very small. The word “mite” is English, and was formerly a weight representing the twentieth part of a grain, but has long fallen into disuse. It was employed in the translation of the New Testament to represent the word lepton, simply because it was so very small.
It is pretty certain that there was no Jewish or Hebrew coin so small as the lepton; that people depended very much upon outside coins for their circulation. Even their money terms had changed to those of the Syrian-Greek Empire and of Rome, as we see from all the instances in the New Testament. What few copper or bronze pieces they had, struck by local princes for a limited time, and now very rare, were large enough to bear a show of devices and inscriptions, for which the lepton was too minute. The one in our cabinet has a diameter of only three-tenths of an inch, and weighs but ten grains. On one side nothing is discernible, on the other a mint monogram, such as were common in that era, occupies the space. It is much like the letter x, with a line crossing it near the top. Whether it is Samaritan, or Syriac, or Greek, we cannot be sure; nor is it of any consequence. It is enough to show that it is a coin, and belongs to the age shortly before and after the advent of Christ, and its size proves it to be a lepton.
It is an interesting and confirmatory fact, that this piece was found among the rubbish of the Temple grounds, by Dr. Barclay, long resident in Jerusalem, and author of “The City of the Great King.” By him it was presented to the mint cabinet. The objector may soberly doubt whether this was one of the identical mites offered by the widow; for the rest of his doubts they are of no value.