Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(standard). The standard gold coin of ancient Greece, worth about $4.00. Later, the silver stater, containing four drachmae, or about sixty cents. This is thought to be the “piece of money” (Matt. 17:27).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Matthew 17:27. When thou hest opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
This “piece of money” was a stater which term was applied to coins of gold, of silver, and of an alloy of the two precious metals of the color of amber, and therefore called electrum. The stater, which was miraculously provided for tribute-money, is supposed to have been one of the tetradrachms of the cities of Syria. It was a silver coin, having the same weight as the shekel, and its value was about sixty cents of our money. This one coin was thus of sufficient value to pay the temple-tax of both Jesus and Peter.
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