A Silver Half Shekel. Minted in Tyre.

This coin was customarily used to pay the half shekel head-tax to the Temple in the Second Temple period.

At the time the Jerusalem Temple stood, every Jew was commanded to donate a half shekel to the Temple. This sum allowed all Jews, wealthy or poor, to contribute in the building’s maintenance, and for the purchase of the public sacrifices.

“Widow’s Mite”: Coin minted in Jerusalem, under the Hasmonean leader and High Priest John Hyrcanus I, for the Seleucid king Antiochus VII.

The coin depicts an inverted anchor, and the inscription “Of King Antiochus, Benefactor”. The reverse of the coin depicts a lily, symbol of Jerusalem and one of the decorations of the capitals standing at the entrance to the First Temple.