Genesis 23:16

Current money] Note that the word 'money' is not in the original. The word 'shekel' means 'weight,' and it is believed that, in these early days, rings of silver of a marked weight were used, and not coins bearing a definite value. Abraham probably weighed them to show they were of full value. 'Coined money was not known to the Hebrews before the Captivity, when first Persian and then Greek or Syriac currency was employed, till Simon the Maccabee (about 140 b.c.) struck Jewish coins, especially shekels and half shekels, specimens of which have been preserved to us' (Kalisch).