| Date: | 8th – 6th Century BCE. |
| Mint: | Judaea – Ancient Near East Levant. |
| Denomination: | Silver Ingot Hacksilver Quarter-Shekel (5-Gerahs). |
| Obverse: | No intended design; not struck with die. |
| Reverse: | No intended design; not struck with die. |
| Weight: | 2.79 gr. |
| Diameter: | 12.3 x 10.8 x 5.1 mm. |
Before widespread usage of coins in the Holy Land, precious metal ingots that had been cut (or hacked) into various weights were used in trade and commerce. The term ‘hacksilver’ (German: hacksilber) is commonly used to denote these silver pieces. Such pieces of silver in various sizes and shapes have been dated by Holy Land finds as early as the twelfth century B.C., and can be considered as having been “the immediate precursors of coinage”.1
Usage of Hacksilver in the Holy Land is affirmed by biblical and non-biblical sources.2 It was prominent ca.1000-586 BCE “as a unified form of payment”.3 David Hendin, widely recognized author and numismatic expert in ancient Jewish archaeology and biblical coins (and from whom this example was acquired) dates it from the late Iron Age, ca. 8th-6th century BCE.
Hacksilver pieces of this same shape and rough form, dated from the end of Iron Age II,4 were un-earthed on the Israel side of the Dead Sea, roughly 10 miles north of Masada and 25 miles southeast of Jerusalem at an oasis named Ein-Gedi (Tel Goren) situated along a trade route.5 The hoard had been buried in a cooking vessel, presumably hidden for safe keeping.6
Biblical events that took place in the time period assigned to this particular piece of hacksilver include those written in 2 Kings 16-25, Amos, Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, portions of Daniel, and other books.
The example shown weighs 2.79 grams, which is just 10% heavier than a modern day U.S. Penny. This weight amounts to 5 ancient Hebrew “gerah” weight units. One gerah equaled 1/20th of one shekel weight.7 Accordingly this 5-gerah piece of silver equals one-quarter shekel, and therefore is the very weight of the silver piece that Saul’s servant held in his hand while he spoke to Saul regarding what to give Samuel the prophet, recorded in 1. Samuel 9:8.
1. Samuel 9:7-8 “Then Saul said to his servant, ‘But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sack and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?’ And the servant answered Saul again and said, ‘Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us our way.’”
Genuine ancient hacksilver pieces from the Holy Land are rare. But beyond the rarity of these ancient pieces, silver metal ore itself is not a natural resource of Israel today – nor was it in ancient times. Although copper ore has been extracted from the land since antiquity, and is the only metal mined in Israel today, the importing of silver has always been necessary.8 Evidence of this is seen in 1. Kings 10:22-23, which states King Solomon “had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every 3 years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks. So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches”.
ENDNOTES
1 Guide to Biblical Coins, Fifth Edition, David Hendin, pg. 67
2 Haim Gitler 2006. (As per Pharaoh_Crypt listing in my file for this piece.)
3 Guide to Biblical Coins, Fifth Edition, David Hendin, pg. 80
4 There is debate over the exact timing of the Iron Age and its sub-sections. Strictly speaking the Iron Age commenced with the first usage of iron to make tools. The difficulty arises because the date of this event differed from culture to culture. For the Ancient Near East it is generally regarded that the Iron Age encompassed 1200 B.C. through the time of Babylonian control of Judah. The phrase “end of Iron Age II” as used here can be thought of as being included within the 8th-6th century dating given to this piece of hacksilver. For a scientific look into this topic, see:
The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. Equinox Publishing, Ltd. London. 2005. Edited by Thomas E Levy and Thomas Higham. The Debate over the Chronology of the Iron Age in the Southern Levant: Its history, the current situation, and a suggested resolution. Amihai Mazar. Pages 15-30.
5 The emergence of Yehud in the Persian period: a social and demographic study; Charles Edward Carter; Page 157.
6 Avi-Yonah Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, volume 2, p. 374.14.
7 See: Exodus 30:13, Leviticus 27:25, Numbers 3:47, Numbers 18:16, and Ezekiel 45:12.
8 Encyclopedia Judaica: Metals & Mining. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/metals-mining
