Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius.
This passage of story was not in Matthew, but is here and in Luke; it is Christ's commendation of the poor widow, that cast two mites into the treasury, which our Saviour, busy as he was in preaching, found leisure to take notice of. Observe, I.
Commenting on Mark 12:41-44
Verse 42. Two mites. The word translated mite denotes a small coin made of brass, the smallest in use among the Jews. The precise value cannot now be easily estimated. It was much less than any coin we have, as the farthing was less than an English farthing. It was in value about three mills and a half, or one third of a cent.
[Two mites, which make a farthing.] Two prutahs are a farthing. "A prutah is the eighth part of an Italian assarius. An assarius is the twenty-fourth part of a silver penny." We rendered before, "The people cast money, brass," by they were casting in small money: one would think it should rather be rendered, They were casting in brass.