Piece of Silver (Lost Coin)

A “piece of silver” (a drachma) was about a day’s wage — a coin of real value to an ordinary household, and perhaps part of a woman’s treasured set. Jesus built a parable on the loss of just one.

A woman with ten pieces of silver loses one and turns the house upside down to find it: she “light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it.” The single lost coin matters enough for an all-out search, and finding it brings such delight that she calls together her friends and neighbours to rejoice.

Jesus gave the meaning plainly: “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Paired with the lost sheep and the lost son, the lost coin reveals the heart of God — not content to write off the one that is missing, but searching with diligence and celebrating its recovery. (It is a separate image from the thirty pieces of silver of the betrayal.)