PIECE OF MONEY

Two words are thus rendered in the King James Version (qesiTah; stater). the Revised Version (British and American) gives only the first this rendering (Job 49:11). It is supposed to be from Arabic qassaT, "to divide equally by weight," and hence, something weighed; a piece of silver weighed for money, and perhaps stamped with its weight. The stater is the well-known Greek weight and coin (Matthew 17:27 the King James Version, margin, "stater," the Revised Version (British and American) "shekel"). In gold it was equal to about a guinea or five dollars, but in silver only to about 66 cents (in 1915).

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.