This coin, the Tetradrachm/shekel of Tyre, was approved for use in the Temple at Jerusalem and was the most available coin in the Holy land at that time. Each one had the value of roughly four day's pay. The portrait on the coin is of the god Melkart, son of Baal. The reverse depicts an eagle with a palm branch over its shoulder, perched on the bow of a ship. This Shekel of Tyre looks brand new - that's because it is! It is the only replica coin in my collection because they can cost £2,000 for a good example.
Judas Iscariot was paid 30 pieces of silver (shekel's of Tyre) to betray Jesus Christ, predicted hundreds of years before it happened (Zechariah 11v12) . He is described in the Bible as the "Son of Perdition" (John 17v12), a title also given to the Antichrist (2nd Thessalonians 2v3). In the King James version of the Bible we read that Jesus revealed who would betray him by giving a sop to Judas. "Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly." (John 13v26-27) It is interesting to note that SOP is the letters for Son of Perdition.
Churches are filled with people each Sunday who sing hymns and even take communion, but they have never believed/trusted in Christ as their saviour. False believers - "tares among the wheat" - like Judas, who was never born again. He looked and played the part but just like this replica coin was not the real thing!
The Shekel of Tyre was also the coin in the fish's mouth (Mathew 17v 24-27).