THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

drak'-ma, (drachme): The word is used in the Septuagint as the rendering of beqa`, "half-shekel," which must refer to the light standard for the shekel, as its weight was about 62 grains. In the New Testament the word occurs only in Lu 15:8,9, where it is rendered "a piece of silver" (m "drachma"). It was commonly taken as equivalent to the Roman denarius, though not strictly so.