What do nails, obelisks and the Euro have to do with the parable of the lost coin in Luke 15:1-10? It was literally a silver drachma coin and once nails or metal sticks were used as coins called oboloi. Eventually 6 of these nails were worth a drachma (meaning a handful). A small obolos was called an obelisk and so the monument shaped like one was also humorously referred to as a small nail. In later history, silver coins called drachma were minted in many cities where Greek culture had some influence, and they were worth a variety of values. Eventually, a consensus emerged which gave the coin the rough equivalent value of a skilled worker’s daily pay. Modern Greece also used the word drachma for its currency before it was replaced by the Euro. And now you know.
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