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Denarius

Greek δηνάριον. Also called Penny, Denarii, Pence, denarion.

A Roman silver coin, and a day's wage for a labourer — the one figure that makes every sum in the gospels legible.

Wage
1 day's wage (1 day's wage). Reckoned from the wage agreed in the parable of the labourers.
Mass
3.7–3.9 g (0.131–0.138 oz). Reckoned from surviving denarii of Tiberius.
Diameter
1.7–1.9 cm (0.669–0.748 in). Reckoned from surviving denarii of Tiberius.

The denarius is the coin the New Testament reckons in, and its value is not left to inference: the landowner in the parable agrees a denarius a day with the workers he hires, which fixes it as an ordinary day's wage. Everything else follows from that. The Good Samaritan leaves two of them for a stranger's care, which is two days of a working man's income. The disciples call two hundred denarii an absurd sum for bread, which is most of a year. And it is a denarius that Jesus asks for when he asks whose image is on it — the coin carried the emperor's head, which is what makes the question sharp.

What the gospels’ sums meant in days of work Four sums of money from the gospels drawn as grids of squares, one square for each day's wage of a denarius (Matthew 20:2): two denarii, the Samaritan's pledge for the injured man (Luke 10:35); one hundred, the fellow servant's debt (Matthew 18:28); two hundred, the bread Philip says would not be enough (John 6:7); and three hundred, the price of the ointment (John 12:5), about a year of work. 2 denariithe Samaritan’s pledgeLuke 10:352 days’ work100 denariithe fellow servant’s debtMatthew 18:28100 days’ work200 denarii“not sufficient” breadJohn 6:7200 days’ work300 denariithe ointment’s priceJohn 12:5300 days’ workabout a yearone square is a day’s wage: a denarius, as the landowner agreed with his labourers (Matthew 20:2)
The denarius is the one coin the text itself values: a day’s pay for a labourer. That makes every sum in the gospels readable as time. Three hundred denarii is about a year of work once the Sabbaths are set aside, which is why the disciples balk at the ointment.

Where it appears

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