Shekalim All that glitters is Tyrian silver The only Yerushalmi tractate in Daf Yomi puts our blog on familiar ground. The topic is the Temple and its economy, a quintessentially Eretz Yisrael subject. What was the coin used to pay the מחצית השקל and have we found any today? A little background on ancient coins. We all know Abba bought the Had Gadya for 2 zuzim: but what is a zuz and how much is it worth? The smallest coin of value was a פרוטה peruta. Its weight was equal to one barley seed. If something is not even worth a peruta, you cannot make a transaction with it. Perutot are the most common coins found in archaeology, presumably because people did not bother to pick them up. Here is one version of a peruta: There are eight perutot in an איסר issar and twenty four issarin in a zuz, also called a dinar. If you are still with me, let’s keep on with the math. A shekel is equivalent to two zuzim, the price of Abba’s goat. So half a shekel shoul