Biblical Prutah from Judaea, Known as a "Widow's Mite"--NGC Slabbed 1of 2 Remain

This lot is for ONE coin. I had two virtually identical NGC slabbed prutahs--one of which has sold. but I have two virtually identical NGC slabbed and authenticated Judaean prutahs.

The prutah (or mite) was the smallest denomination of coinage used in the period of 100BC to 100AD and it was 1/64th of a denarius; some references note that a day's wages were a single denarius, but I am sure that is a generalization. In Biblical times most laborers were probably paid about the same amount and a huge portion of the "workforce" were slaves; those above the class of laborers (who made up nearly the entire labor force of the period) would have earned substantially more if they were in a position to be a paid employee.

If in general a worker received a denarius for a day (which was probably far longer than a typical work day today), 1/64 of that amount wouldn't buy much!

Prutah's were very crudely made and probably not given a lot of artistic consideration; the two offered here are among the high grades in today's marketplace.