The obolus, along with the mirror, was a symbol of new schismatic heretics in the short story ``The Theologians'' by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. In the story's discussion of the circularity of time, eternity, and the transmigration of the soul through several bodies the author uses a quote of Luke 12:59, mistranslated as ``no one will be released from prison until he has paid the last obolus'' since Luke calls the coin a lepton (a somewhat smaller denomination) rather than an obolus.
Jorge Luis Borges
Luke