[Avodah] Sheqel Kesef

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Jan 09, 2023 at 06:17:19PM -0500, Zev Sero via Avodah wrote:
> My understanding of hacksilver is that they were not pre-cut to standard
> weights, but rather cut on demand...

Then the author of the article misused the term. This was a sack of precut
sheqel-weight pieces of silver, which is what made the find so interesting.

    That the pieces of silver were unpolished suggesting that they were
    not used as jewelry or ornamental objects and generally found together
    wrapped in cloth and kept in pottery, indicates they were used as
    a form of payment.

....
> > Which fits my guess that Avraham paying with sheqalim that were "over
> > lasocher" refers to pieces of unstamped silver needing to be tested for
> > purity and weighed -- unless they were obviously beyond the minima and
> > acceptable to anyone.
> 
> Even if there was a standard of "over lasocher" silver that didn't need to
> be tested for purity, evidently it still needed to be weighed, since the
> Torah says "vayishkol", not "vayimneh" or "vayiten".

Good catch!

There was something else in the article I should have brought attention
to:
> One shekel is believed to have been equal to approximately 16 grams
> of silver.

Which is shitas haRambam. (Translating Hil' Bekhoros 8:8 to modern units.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Like a bird, man can reach undreamed-of
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   heights as long as he works his wings.
Author: Widen Your Tent      But if he relaxes them for but one minute,
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    he plummets downward.   - Rav Yisrael Salanter