The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1861-11-07
Coins of the New Testament.
BY JAMES ROSS sNowDEN

= CTS ioF penny DAY, be sent the III in
5 bis Viueyard.'-Matt xx rs.
A penny day seems a small compe,
satlon for laborer: but the coin ip QUE
tIon was not the penny Of the present da
, but was q denariuS, a silver coin. the il
trinsic value OF which was fifteen cent
This gives one better idea of the yslu
OF labor at that tune. And it shows tha
the good Samaritan was more liberal a d
generous than the usual reading of th
text would indicate. Luke 35. H
gave the poor man that fell among th
thieves two silver coins of thirty oents
We have reason to believe that silver va
at that period teD times as valuable as j
Is at present; in other words, thirty cent
would buy as much as three dollar. woulc
now. 1t thus appears that the Sam arita o
besides the other valuable things, wine
and oil. which be bestowed upon the 10
Jared man. gave the 'ho-t' money enough
to pay the boarding OF his guest for some
time, perhaps for -eseral weeks, because
this Interesting event happened in the bill
country OF Judea, between Jeru. ale 90 and
Jericho. where the charges at the inn
were probably quite moderate. Thu. a
liberal provision was u ade Tor the inter
Venlng tue which would elspse before the
benevolent man would return from Jeru.
salem. AID in case be should be delay.
ed 10 bis return, be said to the inn keen.
er, Take care of this man, and whatsoev
CT thou speDdest NJ ore, when come again
l will repay thee This generous and
neighborly conduct of the good Samari.
tao our Lord commends. With the iDjuoc.
ton, Go thou and do like ewise'-y 81.
The ointment with which Mary snoin.
ted our Saviour, is said to have been very
costly, John xii. 3, and very precious,
Mark xiv. 5. Some had indignation
within tbemselves. and murmured against
her, because her ointment might have
been sold for more than three hundred
pence, and the money given to the poor
Mark xiv. 4. 5. The propriety of saying
that it was very costly and very precious,
appears very clearly when We ascertain
that the price at which it uss said it
might have been sold was equal to forty.
i've dollars Of our owu money. Msrysl
Offering was therefore a valuable iutrins.
ically; but much more so as she urous ht
a good work. which is spoken Of through
out the whole world as memorial of
her love and devotion to tho Saviour
v 9.
Again.. when the Eve thousand persons
were mlraculou-ly fed, we are told that
the disciples asked, shall We 90 and buy
two hundred worth of bread, and give
them to eatl Mark vi 81. The present
value OF penny is about two cents 1t
would seem to be very unreasonable to
talk of feeding such a multitude With four
hundred cents worth of bread. But when
We kOow that two hundred pence we're Q.
4ual to thirty dollars Of our 90 oney, We
gao readily uoder-taDd how. with that
'un, bread enough might have been pur.
chased not oDl y TO enable every one of
bem to take a !ittIe'--John vi. Z; but If
he proportioDate value is considered, the
money would have bought loaf OF bread
or each of the great multitude that we're
semtled. The great Master of the
e asst, however, preferred to feed them BY
his creative power. aud thus the 6se bar.
ey losves aud the two small fishes mirac-
,lously increased; and they did all eat I
md were filled. and they took up twelve
baskets of the fragUents.-Mark vi az az
1t is difficult to determine With aocu.
acy the relative value Of money 10 differ.
mt periods of the world. The pieces Of
be same Denomination, coined at differ.
mt times, greatly varied 10 weight and in
ineness. or in the proportion of pure ell.
'er to the alloy of base metal used 10 the
coinage. The densrius of Tiberius weigh.
ID about sixty grains. and contained a.
'out 80 per cent. of silver, and ten per |
ent. OF alloy. and was worth, as We have =
cen, atout fifteen cents; but as the Ro. i
nan Eupire declined the denarius was 1
diminished iD weight aud 6oeuess, until {
t length it fell to about the value of elk {
rnts. 1t was perhaps on the model Of I
his reduced densriou, that the English t
enDy was established The pound sier-
ing, as originally constituted 10 England. I
I'D up to about A d 1900. vas com. t
o.e of troy pound aoeight Of silver. As |
here are $500 grains 10 a troy pound, g
nd as a penny is the hundred and forti. '
th part of pound sterling. it will be seen 9
at the penny of our Eogli-h ancestor.
Ieis bed twenty.four grains; from which f
omes the term 'peonyweisbt.' At the ?
resent mint value of silver. namely l2l I
euts per ounse-tweDty one grain-, or t
ne penny wrigh is worth six cent; but F
s one pound troy of silver is now in Eng. b
and coined into three pounds and six Q
billings sterling. the weight of the penny
'ould be only about seven grains. This
eing too small for coin. the copper pen t
y has been substituted for the silver \
enny. The Roman terms ia still preserv- t
d in the English account of pounds, shil e
ngs and peDoe--tbus. e d. From t
bese considerations it would appear that s
be translation OF the word deDarius into I
emmy is Legitimate and proper in one
ense. although it gives an incorrect idea
{ the value Of that ancient coin. G