Ancient Rome 103-76BC – Judaea – Medium Grade Biblical Widow’s Mite

This is a genuine ancient prutah of the Roman province of Judaea, struck during the prefecture of Porcius Festus, AD 59-62. It has been inspected and certified as genuine by NGC (Numismatic Guarantee Corporation). This is a stock photo and the coin received may not be identical to the one pictured. Comes in Box with a COA. Twice in the Gospels, in the Luke and Mark, we hear the Parable of the Widow’s Mites-a tale of charity and humility told by Jesus in the last days of His life. After three years of itinerate preaching in the lesser cities of Galilee and Judea, Jesus has brought His Ministry to the City of David. Once in Jerusalem, the hub of Jewish life and the capital of the Roman province of Palestine, there will be no turning back. In a week’s time, He will be crucified. Jesus is preaching in the Temple, which represents both the city’s religious center and its business district. On the Temple grounds, goods are bought and sold, money is changed, and taxes are paid. Jesus watches rich men in flowing gowns put pieces of silver into the treasury-generous offerings to the Temple. Then he watches a woman, a certain widow, deposit two “mites” into the till. He observes that “this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mark 12:41-44). The parable, repeated in Luke 21:1-4, is understood to both extol the virtues of charity and impugn the vices of avarice. As Jesus remarks in Matthew 19:24, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”