THIS PARTICULAR COIN: This lepton widow's mite has beautiful star image and part of the  images in a beautiful natural patina.

THE WIDOW'S MITE COIN IN SCRIPTURE: This is a widow's mite lepton coin which is the same type of coin that was given by the poor widow to the Temple as recorded in Luke 21:2 and Mark 12:41. These small bronze lepton coins were the smallest coins minted and were often cheaply and crudely made. This one fact helps to emphasize the poverty of the poor widow to which Christ commended her for "she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

A PURELY JUDEAN COIN: These coins were minted while Judea was self-governing, not under Greek or Roman occupation. The coins were minted under King and High Priest Alexander Jannaeus who ruled from 103-76 BC. The Maccabean war was over and Israel was no longer under the Greek/Syrian rule and Herod the Great had not yet come to power which led to the Roman occupation. A truly Jewish coin. These coins continued in regular circulation in Israel till about 70 AD.

WIDOW'S MITE LEPTON CHARACTERISTICS:  The coin has Aramaic wording around the star and Greek wording around the anchor. Both sides of the coin normally reveal a date within the inscription, if legible. This lepton has beautiful natural patina finish with sharp contrast to the coin. This particular mite measures 14mm. The coin has an anchor on one side and a star on the reverse. These coins are almost never round but oblong with two flans and/or straight cuts on opposite ends, due to the fact that these coins were made in strips then cut.