Greek lepton
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The lepton, dual lepto, plural lepta (Template:Langx, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), is the name of various fractional units of currency used in the Greek-speaking world from antiquity until today. The word means "small" or "thin", and during Classical and Hellenistic times a lepton was always a small value coin, usually the smallest available denomination of another currency.<ref name="FdC">Fleur de Coin - Greek 50 Lepta Coins</ref>
The coin in the lesson of the widow's mite (Template:Bibleverse, Template:Bibleverse) is referred to as a lepton and Luke's Gospel also refers to the lepton or mite when stating that a person who does not make peace with his adversary in good time will be required to pay 'to the very last mite' before being released from prison.<ref>Luke 12:59</ref> In the Hasmonean Kingdom the lepton was first minted under Alexander Jannaeus prior to 76 BCE.<ref>Coins of the Bible Set 2 of 3, Whitman Publishing, LLC, 2004. Template:ISBN</ref>
In modern Greece, lepton (modern form: lepto, λεπτό) is the name of the Template:Frac denomination of all the official currencies of the Greek state: the phoenix (1827–1832), the drachma (1832–2001) and the euro (2002–current) – the name is the Greek form of "cent". Its unofficial currency sign is Λ (lambda).<ref name="FdC" /> Since the late 1870s, and until the introduction of the euro in 2001, no Greek coin had been minted with a denomination lower than 5 lepta.
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20-lepton coin, Phoenician subdivision, 1831. -
5-lepton coin, drachma subdivision, 1833. -
10-lepton coin, drachma subdivision, 1849. -
One-lepton coin of 1879, the last one-lepton coin of the drachma issued. -
2-lepton coin 1869. The last two-lepton coins were minted in 1878. -
An ancient mite of a type still circulating in Jesus' time, typical of what might have appeared in the Bible's lesson of the widow's mite.
See also
- Sou, a small unit of currency, especially in France and French expressions