The Widow's Mite

"And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." Mark 12:38-44, Luke 20:45-47

When the coin re-seller sent me the email with this quote from the Bible, I read it and re-read it. I looked in my Bible and read it again.

The widow had given all she had while others had given only from their excess or abundance.

I had to have one of these coins for my dad. The re-seller had described it as an ugly little copper coin, but that it had special significance to him.

I waited for the little coin to show up. I was anxious. Though it seemed forever, this seller obviously rushed it to me as it was here on the second day.

To think I was getting ready to hold an ancient coin that Christ himself could have held!

When I opened the packaging the coin was in a plastic protector. I could not believe how tiny this little coin was. I couldn't wait to get an up close view of it. So I carefully slid it into my palm. I am not a very emotional person. In fact it is something I am teased about. But when I held that tiny little coin the tears sprang to my eyes. And as the tears rolled down my cheeks I wondered where this little coin had been hiding for 2,000 years. Could this be one of the coins the widow tossed into the treasury? Of course there is no way to know but the thought was there and it was very emotional for me.

Christmas was finally here! I couldn't wait. I had all the coins in separate bags and then together in a medium sized red velvet box.

Some of the coins were silvered and very expensive, some were not so rare but still very fine. My dad had a variety of coins in front of him and he was like a kid opening each one to examine them with his jewelers lens and magnifier.

Then he found the mite. He slid it into his palm and he looked up at me with wonder in his eyes and said "What is this?" It was so tiny I'm not sure he knew it was a coin at that moment. What I did know was that it was having an effect on him without him even knowing why. So I began the story of the widow and he quoted the passage to me. He knew the story well, but had never actually held or even seen this coin in his life. He looked at it in awe and with true emotion. I believe this to be his favorite coin of all. It has a special place in his collection.

The true name for the widow's mite is lepton, meaning small or thin; the smallest copper or bronze coin of the least denominational value.

These coins were produced in large quantities from the first century BC through first century AD. Think of the abundance of American pennies. These coins are not rare. Each of these coins was individually stamped back then. There were no machines to mass produce them until much later. The quality of workmanship in the production of these coins varies from half stamped to unreadable. The coin itself is not typically round; in fact it is normally a misshapen oval and rarely centered. This doesn't take away from the true beauty of these little coins for me. In fact, it only makes it more endearing.

Since that day, my father has become an avid collector of ancient Roman coins. He has added several hundred to his collection. He buys them in lots, uncleaned, and then enjoys uncovering his treasures. He never knows what he has until he gets them clean. Now most of them he pays approximately .60 to .90 each, but that is buying in lots, usually 60 to 100 coins at a time.

These coins come in all grades from fair to good condition. Some that are marked as fair actually come out cleaned in beautiful condition where you can read all the markings on front and back.

Remember these coins are approximately 2,000 years old! Cars are antiques at 25 years of age. Furniture at 50. To me, there is nothing that compares with finding treasure beneath the dirt!

There are books that will teach you how to collect, what to collect, and most importantly, what to expect when dealing with coins. Some of those are listed below. There are coin encyclopedias in the hundreds of dollars. But until you really have a good grasp on what you are looking at, the basic book will do.

Can you imagine cleaning what you thought would be a finer copper or bronze and finding a beautiful silver or gold piece? You might even find the occasional rare coin worth hundreds or even thousands if you are very lucky!

My best advice to you on this is to get a lesser expensive book, buy a couple of already cleaned coins at $2-$3 a piece on ebay so that you get an idea of what you are looking at. Then if you are hooked on these beautiful coins, go ahead and buy a lot of 20 or more. Read up on how to clean them and go find your treasure!

In ancient times there were counterfeiters. Amazing, isn't it? What's even more interesting is that they would sign their work! Some of these coins have become very sought after by collectors.