Alexander Jannaeus

On our last day (Wednesday) at the Museum of the Bible, we visited the 3rd floor, where the exhibits are quite a bit different from other floors - more experiential than viewing and reading.

One of the few viewing/reading items showed various rulers over the area of Israel...

... and this one particularly caught my attention.

This story goes back to our first visit to Israel, in 1994. We were on a trip with Discovery Worldwide Ministries and there were two buses of folks from our church, First Baptist Dallas. Many times there would be folks trying to sell us things when we were walking around, and many vendors would try to get onto our bus, but our tour guide would rebuff most of them. One, however, he allowed to come on board... he said that this man had coins that had been dug up around Jerusalem which were from the era of Jesus -- that they were the smallest of the coinage of that day, the coin known as the "widow's mite" from scripture. The coins were in a plastic sandwich bag, and if we wanted one, we were to put $20 into the bag and take out the coin we wanted. By the time the baggie got back to us (we were near the back of the bus) there were several $20 bills in the baggie, but there were still coins left in the baggie too. We decided that it was worth a $20 "investment" - we were in Jerusalem, the coins looked irregular and old, and it would be a good story, whether they were authentic or not. We wrapped the coin in a tissue and stored it away in a jewelry box in my closet.

Fast forward a few years... IBM sent me to London to teach and Dwayne went with me. We arrived from the US early in the morning London time... our hotel room was not ready, but we could leave our bags there for the day. We headed out to go to the British Museum - when I was in middle/high school, my Latin teacher would take a group of students on a trip each summer - one year to Rome, another to Greece, and another to London -- where they saw the treasures that were taken from the Acropolis and other items. All during the school year, we would learn about the things that the students who would go on the trips would be seeing - so they would be ready to appreciate what they would see, and we would be aware also. So... I had wanted to see the British Museum for 15-20 years before I made it to the museum in person! Regardless of the jet-lag that we were dealing with, we enjoyed seeing the museum while we were there...

But! One of the things we saw there was a "coin authentication" center within the British Museum. "I wish I had brought that coin that we got in Jerusalem!" - but we had not...

A few months (or maybe years) later, I got sent to London again - this time we were prepared and brought the coin with us. I didn't have any daytime hours available to be able to go to the British Museum, but Dwayne took it over there and had them examine it. They authenticated it as a coin  minted during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus - who ruled in Jerusalem 103-76BC. Wow!

The story of the "widow's mite" is recorded in Mark 12:41-44, and Luke 21:1-4:

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4)

In the King James Version of the Bible, the coins are called "mites".
Since Jannaeus was the last Jewish ruler in Jerusalem prior to the time of Jesus, coinage made during his rule would have been the coinage that would have been expected to be used in the temple offerings (not Roman coinage). Money changers were available in the temple area to change money into acceptable coinage if the giver did not have the appropriate Jewish coinage.

Now, in case you're thinking, "Wow, that must be really valuable!" -- just a few weeks after we returned from the second trip to London, we were shopping at Sam's Club and saw a very similar coin all packaged up in fancy plastic packaging with the coin and the story of the Widow's Mite printed in the packaging -- for sale for $19.95. So, we decided that $20 must be the appropriate current price for Widow's Mites!

After all this, and having the background story, we decided to get it mounted as a piece of jewelry that I could wear --

This was the picture that the appraiser took of the coin in the mounting that Dwayne had made for me -- back in June when I had a number of jewelry pieces appraised.

The appraiser and the folks in the shop were quite impressed with the story behind this coin, but the story that I think is even more important is within the Biblical account, read it again:

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4)

Note that she put in *two* very small copper coins, and that Jesus said "she ... put in all she had to live on." If you had only a dime, then maybe you would put that dime into the offering plate, but if you only had two nickels, would you have the faith, if God called you to do so, to put both of them into the offering plate? I pray that I might have that kind of faith!