Hexaplex trunculus degrades, resulting in blue only. Nonetheless, archeologists have confirmed Hexaplex trunculus as the species used to create the purple-blue dye; large numbers of shells were recovered from inside ancient live-storage chambers that were used for harvesting. Apparently, 10- to 12,000 murex yielded only one gram of dye. Because of this, the dye was highly prized. Also known as "Royal Purple", it was prohibitively expensive and was only used by the highest ranking aristocracy. A similar dye, "Tyrian purple", which is purple-red in color, was made from a related species of marine snail, "Murex brandaris". This dye (alternatively known as "imperial
Tyrian shekel Tyrian shekels in Palestine, but with the requirement that the coins should continue to bear the same image and text to avoid objections that the Jews were given autonomy. They were replaced by First Jewish Revolt coinage in 66 AD. The Tyrian shekel were considered tetradrachms by the Greeks, as they weighed four Athenian drachmas, about 14 grams, more than earlier 11-gram shekels but regarded as equivalent for religious duties at that time. Because Roman coinage was only 80% silver, the purer (94% or more) Tyrian shekels were required to pay the temple tax in Jerusalem. The money changers referenced