Pieces

"Pieces of silver" in Scripture refers to varying denominations and weights of silver currency used in different periods. In the patriarchal period, Jacob purchased land at Shechem for a hundred kesitah (pieces). Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver, and Judas received thirty pieces of silver for betraying Jesus — the price of a slave in Mosaic law (Exodus 21:32) and the fulfillment of Zechariah 11:12–13. The pieces of silver in the New Testament are typically shekels or staters. Jesus's parable of the lost coin involves ten silver drachmai, each a day's wage.