The ancient monetary system of the Bible was quite complex. During the time of Herod, coins such as the talent, mine, selah, shekel, dinar, prutah and lepton were used. The talent was worth 60 minae, the mine 50 shekels and the shekel two dinars. The dina was worth 20 prutahs and the prutah was worth 2 leptas.
This system was used by those who didn't have a secure place to store their money or those who needed to borrow money. The power of money is evident in the Bible when it is used to buy another human being. It is also seen when money is used to make more money at the expense of others in need, such as charging interest on loans. The different types of money mentioned in the Bible reflect the values of the societies of the time. Archaeological excavations often reveal hordes of coins, which reflects how often money is described as buried in the Bible. This is because money is so vulnerable that there is little more that can be done to protect it.
