Talk:Shekel

The coin was originally a "warehouse claim ticket" made of metal

It represented a weight of goods in the city state warehouse. It was created as a security feature to replace tokens made of paper, wood, clay, etc.. because they were easily counterfeited, and mining and refining metals and making coins was very difficult at that time. The use of tokens, in general, happened after the invention of the ledger to allow anyone to retrieve the goods from the warehouse, not just the one who deposited them. Christopher Theodore (talk) 19:15, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

• Do you have a reference for that? --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 20:43, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

yes, there is missing the etymology of this word. Is it heavy or weight ? Probably the reference for this are the dictionaries of Simo Parpola on Sumerian and Akkadian or the new book of Mailhammer and Vennemann, which contains a chapter on Schilling and Schekel. 115.164.75.254 (talk) 09:40, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

Judas

So Judas' "30 pieces of silver" would be Tyrian shekels? I always thought they would be Roman denarii, or possibly Hellenistic drachms/tetradrachms... Do we have any sources for that? --Svartalf 22:43, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

Zionist Shekel

I got here from World Zionist Organization Page which had a link titled Zionist Shekel (or something similar) and stated that you had to something like purchase a Zionist Shekel in order to vote as a member of the World Zionist Organization ? It sounds to me like something like a poll tax token was being described...I may have misread this though. Well, I guess if this is the case then there needs to be a disambiguation page. John5Russell3Finley 22:05, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Pronounciation of plural

The plural of shekel (in Hebrew) is shkalim not shekalim. The spelling in hebrew doesn't change (שקלים) but the sheva under the shin isn't pronounced (at least not in modern Hebrew). The article should be updated to include this. --Belfry 03:27, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

It's pronounced without it casually in modern Hebrew, but that schwa and the slight sound that comes with it is still a part of the word, and it would still be audible in clear or slow speech. (That is to say, it is phonologically correct -- someone who includes it isn't pronouncing the word incorrectly or changing its meaning). When the adjoining letters in that mishkal don't flow together quite as easily (such as in "b'gadim"), that schwa becomes a little more audible. A good comparison is probably the 't' in the English word "often". Even though most speakers in North America don't pronounce it, it is still phonologically part of the word, and isn't incorrect when pronounced... it just comes off as careful. 192.197.178.2 (talk) 21:20, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

"Used informally"?

Could someone clarify this part? Because I live in Wisconsin and have never once heard anyone refer to money as "shekels". - Gargomon251 (talk) 19:18, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Wisconsin is far, far away from Israel. The public school system really is that bad these days, isn't it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.126.248.185 (talk) 01:04, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

The statement in the article that Shekel is used informally for "money". makes no sense - it is used in Israel for money, because that's the official name of the currency! Before this name was officially chosen for the currency, nobody used this name informally to refer to money. So this statement has no business of appearing in the article, so I'm removing it. Nyh (talk) 12:42, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

It is used as an antisemitic remark https://www.newsweek.com/eric-trump-uses-anti-semitic-word-woodward-made-three-extra-shekels-book-1119081 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.179.184.17 (talk) 01:56, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

Hittite Shekel

1 Hittite shekel = 12.5 gr (according to Mahfi Eğilmez, "Hitit Ekonomisi" = The Hittite Economy)/ Of course, there was no money at that time! Böri (talk) 09:57, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

in Mesopotamia

1 shekel (shiqlu) = 8.333 gr Böri (talk) 09:58, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

Potentially useful sources

This might be helpful:

“ The "Shekel," when mentioned in the Pentateuch, means one "sela"; in the Prophets it amounts to five and twenty "selaim"; but those mentioned in the Holy Writings (Hagiographa) are one hundred "selaim." There is an exception in the case of the "shekolim" which Ephron the Hittite asked of Abraham for the "cave of Machpelah": they also were one hundred "selaim" each. ” — Midrash Tanḥuma. p. 37. Retrieved 4 June 2017.

Article mixes two very different concepts

The article mixes the unit of weight and the coin. Just because they have the same name, and may have been related originally, they should not be considered the same concept. See for example pound (unit of weight) and pound (currency), or car (automobile) and car (train wagon), etc.
The article should be split in at least two articles. --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 20:37, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

I think that a one shekel coin has a weight of one shekel though. They were on a direct silver standard. GliderMaven (talk) 21:40, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

Article lacks references, dates, places

The article lacks references for major points, such as the claim that the coin was originally a token for the palacial warehouse. (Could that be original research:?) It also lacks specifics of places and dates. --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 20:39, 10 April 2018 (UTC)