Jesus and The Silver Denarius

Jesus Christ was known to be a man of rich and intelligent speech. Speaking in metaphors and parables, he brought a new message of salvation unto the masses. As much as he was loved, he was also much hated by the Pharisees and Sadducees who constantly plotted to get rid of him. In one instance, Jesus used a silver denarius to scorn them.

After Jesus delivered the parable about a banquet to illustrate how the people in high places were rejecting his father's invitation into the kingdom of heaven, the Pharisees were understandably upset. To retaliate, they sent some spies into Jesus' circle, pretending to be his followers. In this case, they were setting Jesus up with a question about whether it's lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, hoping to get him to give an answer to irk the Romans into capturing him. Sensing their hypocrisy, Jesus asked for a denarius. Then, he replied by asking them whose image was on the denarius. When they answered Caesar, Jesus delivered the classic "Render therefore unto Caesar, the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." When they heard this, the imposters scampered away like rats when you shine light on them.

In those times, the denarius was known as tribute money. It was the only circulated coin with the image of a human. While Tiberius Caesar was the ruler at that time, Tiberius denarius didn't appear in Israel until after the death of Christ. Instead, it was the Augustus denarius which was used by Jesus to confound the unbelievers. 

A silver coin, the denarius is about the same size as a current American dime. Workers and Roman soldiers were paid a denarius a day as wages. As such, it was the most common coin at that time. The obverse of the Augustus denarius featured the head Augustus Caesar while the reverse showed faceless Gaius and Lucius Caesar standing and holding shields with spears. Gaius and Lucius were Augustus' grandsons and he had plans for one of them to succeed the throne. Unfortunately, they died prematuredly.

Today, an Augustus denarius in good condition can fetch about 300 USD. Nevertheless, the words of Jesus still ring true. If you have silver to sell, you can get instant cash for silver. All you need to do is get in touch with a trusted silver buyer.