Money

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(warning). Gold and silver passed by weight among Hebrews (Gen. 17:13; 23:1613He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. (Genesis 17:13)
16And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. (Genesis 23:16)); though the ring tokens of Egypt may have been current (Gen. 20:16; 37:2816And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. (Genesis 20:16)
28Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. (Genesis 37:28)). Persian coined money (daric or dram) came into use after the captivity (Esther 2:69; Neh. 7:70-7270And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' garments. 71And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver. 72And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priests' garments. (Nehemiah 7:70‑72)). The Maccabees first coined Jewish money, B. C. 140—shekels and half shekels of gold and silver, with minor copper coins. The N. T. coins (Matt. 17:27; 22:19; 10:29; 5:2627Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. (Matthew 17:27)
19Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. (Matthew 22:19)
29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. (Matthew 10:29)
26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. (Matthew 5:26); Mark 12:4242And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. (Mark 12:42)), were Roman or Grecian.

Concise Bible Dictionary:

Mention is made of money as early as Genesis 17:12-1312And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. (Genesis 17:12‑13), where persons are said to be “bought with money”; and from Genesis to Zechariah it is spoken of as being not counted, but weighed, which would give the true value of the precious metals in the form of rings or in odd pieces of gold or silver. The names Gerah, Bekah, Shekel, Maneh, and Talent, being used for weights as well as money, the two are better considered together. See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
On the return of the Jews, B.C. 536, Persian money was used by them. This would be followed by Greek money when they were under the dominion of the Greeks. Antiochus VII, about B.C. 140, granted permission to Simon Maccabeus to coin Jewish money. Shekels were coined bearing a pot of manna and an almond rod. Under the Romans, Roman money was used.
 
Greek
Authorized Version
Approximate. Value
 
 
 
 
 
£ s. d.
$
 
 
λεπτόν
mite
0 0 0 3/32
0.0005
Mark 12:42; Luke 12:59; 21:2
 
κοδρύντης
farthing
0 0 0 3/16
0.0007
Matt. 5:26; Mark 12:42
 
ὰσσάριον
farthing
0 0 0 3/4
0.0039
Matt. 10:29; Luke 12:6
 
δηνάριον
penny
0 0 7 3/4
0.03
Matt. 20:2; Rev. 6:6
 
δραχμή
piece of silver
0 0 7 3/4
0.03
Luke 15:8-9
 
δίδραχμον
tribute (money)
0 1 3 1/2
0.06
Matt. 17:24
 
στατήρ
piece of money
0 2 7
0.12
Matt. 17:27
 
μνᾶ
pound
3 4 7
4
Luke 19:13-25
 
τάλαντον
talent (Roman)
193 5 0
242
Matt. 18:24; 25:14-30
 
ὰργύριον
piece of silver
indefinite
 
Matt. 26:15; Acts 19:19
 
ὰργύριον
money
--
 
Matt. 25:18; Acts 7:16

“Money” From Bible Handbook:

The value of the words employed is at times meant to be instructive. For instance, in Matthew 18:24,24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. (Matthew 18:24) a forcible point in the parable is the immensity of the debt forgiven by the lord, nearly two million pounds of our money (£1,937,500, $2,421,875), in comparison with the few pounds owing by the fellow-servant (£3. 4s. 7d., $4.00).
Then as to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25), we are apt to regard the one talent as a small gift, whereas we find that it represents nearly £200 ($250), and money was of much more value then, for a man’s daily wages were but 7¾d. ($.04).l
Matthew 20 gives the wages for a full day’s work (apparently from 6 o’clock to 6 o’clock), as 7¾d. Was this fair wages for a day’s work? Tacitus (Annal i. 17) says that a denarius was the pay of a Roman soldier in the time of Tiberius, a few years previous. Polybius (ii. 15-16) mentions that the charge for a day’s entertainment at the inns in Cisalpine Gaul was half an as, which equals one-twentieth of a denarius. This shows that a penny (denarius) a day was liberal pay, the country being fertile, and food cheap.
Revelation 6:66And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:6) names the same sum (7¾d.) as purchasing a measure (choenix) of wheat, equalling one quart; or three quarts of barley for the same sum. Now as 7¾d. was the wages for a day’s work, the above shows that great scarcity is alluded to.
By comparing Matthew 17:2424And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? (Matthew 17:24) and 27 it will be seen by the tables given that the tribute to the temple was 1S. 3½ d. ($.08)and that the exact sum for the Lord and Peter was found in the fish’s mouth. It was a stater, worth 2S. 7d. ($.14)
Matthew 26:1515And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. (Matthew 26:15). The price paid for the betrayal of our Lord Jesus is stated as ‘thirty pieces of silver.’ These are supposed to be shekels of the sanctuary, and were heavier than ordinary shekels. Josephus puts them as equal to four Attic drachmas (Ant. iii. 8, 2. The LXX has ἀργυροῦς in Zechariah 11:12-1312And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. (Zechariah 11:12‑13).); Jerome as 3⅓ drachmas. This latter agrees with some existing specimens, and would be about 2S. 6d. in value. Thirty of these would be £3. 15s. 0d. ($ 4.65) the price of a man or maid-servant (Ex. 21:3232If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. (Exodus 21:32)). Alas! for the man that would betray his Lord — and such a Lord — for so paltry a sum!
Acts 19:1919Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. (Acts 19:19). The books burned were valued at fifty thousand (pieces) of silver. There is no means of telling definitely what the value really was; but it is generally supposed that the coin drachma is alluded to (as in Luke 15:88Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? (Luke 15:8)). The Vulgate has denarius, which is the same value as the drachma. The total would then be about £1,615 ($2020). When books were copied by hand their cost was great, and these magical books may have had an additional value set on them, being used to deceive the people for gain.

“Weights, Measures and Coins” From Bible Handbook:

Weights
A Shekel weighed about ½ ounce, avoirdupois.
A Maneh weighed about 3 pounds 2 ounces, avoirdupois.
A Talent weighed about 93 pounds 12 ounces, avoirdupois.
A Gerah weighed about 11 grains.
A Bekah weighed about 110 grains.
These must only be regarded as an approximation to current weights. Authorities are not at all agreed.
Amongst the most ancient forms of commerce was that practiced by Abraham, who bought the field of Ephron, containing the cave of Machpelah, for a burying-place for himself and family, for four hundred shekels of silver, estimated according to weight; not necessarily of one size. Buying and selling by weight, and not by current money, is still extensively practiced in certain parts of the world.
Measures of Lengths
A Cubit (common) about 18 inches; holy cubit, about 21 inches.
A Span, about 10 inches.
A Hand-breadth, about 3½ inches.
A Fathom, about 6½ feet.
A Measuring Reed, about 11 feet.
A Measuring Line, about 146 feet.
A Stadium or Furlong, about 1/8th of a mile.
A Sabbath day’s journey, considerably less than a mile.
An ordinary day’s journey, about 33 miles.
An Eastern Mile, about 400 paces (a pace about 5 feet) more than our mile.
Measures of Liquids
The Log, nearly 1 pint.
The Hin, nearly 10 pints.
The Bath, nearly 7½ gallons, or 60 pints.
The Homer or Cor, about 75 gallons, or 600 pints.
The Firkin, nearly 7½ gallons.
Measures of Dry Goods
The Cab, about 2 pints.
The Omer, about 6 pints.
The Seah or Measure, about 20 pints.
The Ephah, about 60 pints.
The Homer, about 8 bushels.
The Tenth-deal was the tenth part of an Ephah.
The Choenix was the daily allowance for a Roman slave. In Revelation 6:6,6And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:6) it implies great scarcity, if not a time of positive want and famine.
Coins
English Money Value
We would repeat the warning already given not to place implicit confidence in these tables; the whole subject is one of confessed difficulty to Biblical authorities on these matters.