# How much was 30 pieces of silver converted to current US dollars?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 13, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143 "2009-12-13T21:32:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Victory\_Candescence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143/1 "2009-12-13T21:32:39Z")

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Or perhaps at least converted into buying power.

By the way, this is General Questions, not Great Debates, so keep your responses appropriate.

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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143/2 "2009-12-13T21:57:52Z")

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One [denarius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denarius) was about a day’s wages for an ordinary field worker or soldier. So somewhere around $5000.

Regards,  
Shodan

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143/3 "2009-12-13T22:09:08Z")

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Assuming the coins were denarii. Its also possible, probably more likely, because in the story, they were given to him by the chief priest, that they were Tyrian shekels, which would have been bigger than the denarius and worth more.

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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143/4 "2009-12-13T22:24:37Z")

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Possibly, but the same term is used for other silver money from non-priestly sources ([cite](http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G694&t=KJV)). How much more was a shekel worth than a denarius?

Regards,  
Shodan

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143/5 "2009-12-13T22:33:01Z")

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The shekel was about 3 times as big, and 94% silver rather than 80% So, a denarius would have about 3.6 grams of silver, and a shekel about 13.2 grams of silver.

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**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-30-pieces-of-silver-converted-to-current-us-dollars/521143/6 "2009-12-13T22:47:04Z")

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I think defining “buying power” of ancient currency is a bit tricky. Thirty denarii could probably get you a lot of hookers, but blow wasn’t available at any price.

According to the Bible, the 30 pieces were used to buy a field. But I guess without knowing how big or where, that alone doesn’t mean much.