Denarius

dē̇ -nā´ri -us ( δηνάριον , dēnárion ): A R oman silver coin, 25 of which went to the aureus , the standard gold coin of the empire in the time of Augustus, which was equal in value to about one guinea or .25; more exactly £1.0.6 = .00, the £ = .866. Hence, the value of the denarius would be about 20 cents and this was the ordinary wage of a soldier and a day laborer. The word is uniformly rendered "penny" in the King James Version and "shilling" in the American Standard Revised Version, except in Matthew 22:19; Mark 12:15 and Luke 20:24 , where the Latin word is used, since in these passsages it refers to the coin in which tribute was paid to the Roman government. See Money .