Difference between revisions of "Coin"

<p> Before the [[Babylonian]] exile (see Deyling, Observ. 3. 222 sq., also in Ugolini Thesaur. 28) the Hebrews had and knew no regularly stamped money, but generally made use of a currency in traffic consisting of uncoined shekels (or talents) of silver, which they weighed out to one another (&nbsp;Genesis 23:16; &nbsp;Exodus 22:17; &nbsp;2 Samuel 18:12; &nbsp;1 Kings 20:39; &nbsp;Jeremiah 32:9 sq.; comp. Pliny, 33:13), just as among other nations in most ancient times uncoined metal served for money ( ''A'' Elian, ''Var. Hist.'' 12:10; Strabo, 3. 155), and even to this day the Chinese make their commercial transactions by means of silver bars (Rosenm '''''Ü''''' ller, ''Morgenl'' . 1:98; see Sperling, ''De Nummis [[Non]] Cusis'' , in Ugolini ''Thesaur.'' 28). Among the earliest Hebrews, but not afterwards (Crusius, De origin ib. pecunioe a pecore ante nummum sign. Petropol. 1748), an ox or other animal (comp. Pliny; 33:3) was traded instead of cash (see Michaelis, De siclo ante ex'l. Babyl. in the Comment. Soc. Gott. 2:1752, '''''§''''' 1). Yet already in the time of [[Abraham]] there circulated in hither Asia, as it seems, silver ingots ( '''''קְשַׁיטָה''''' , &nbsp;Genesis 33:19; &nbsp;Joshua 24:32; see Gesenius, ''Thes. Heb.'' p. 1241; Bertheau, p. 24; Tuch, ''Gen'' . p. 399, 472) of a determined weight, which was probably indicated by marks (&nbsp;Genesis 23:16; &nbsp;Genesis 43:21) stamped upon them (so the [[Targum]] of [[Jonathan]] explains the former passage by '''''פרקמטיא''''' , i.e. '''''Πραγματεία''''' ). (See Kesitah). Even under the regularly organized [[Hebrew]] state small silverpieces (comp, '''''Ἀργύρια''''' , silverling) may have passed in exchange (as among their Phoenician neighbors; but see Herod. 1:94; Philostr. Her. 10:1), although destitute of national authority (see &nbsp;1 Samuel 9:8; comp. &nbsp;Exodus 30:13; &nbsp;Leviticus 27:3 sq.; &nbsp; Copyright StatementThese files are public domain. Bibliography InformationMcClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Coin'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and [[Ecclesiastical]] Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/c/coin.html. [[Harper]] & Brothers. New York. 1870. </p>