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In Exodus 30:15, the half-shekel (Temple) annual tax requires that everyone (i.e. every adult male) must pay for the upkeep of the Temple.
The shekel was originally a weight used for barley in Mesopotamia in 3,000 BCE. The weight was later stamped on metals such as gold and silver. Silver was used by the Jews in Jerusalem and other western semetic peoples (Moabites, Edomites and Phoenicians).
The weight of an ancient silver shekel varied between 11 and 17 grams,so a half-shekel would be, say, 1/5 of an ounce of silver, which at today's rate of US$17.20/ounce $3.44.
But I agree buying power is more correct way to value the shekel. Doug Smith in his article "Buying Power of Ancient Coins" estimates that an early Roman denarius at 137 BCE would have bought enough wheat for a month's worth of bread, and was 3 day's wages for a legionary soldier. So he estimates the denarius to be worth US$20.
The denarius had 4.5 grams of silver vs. the shekel's, say, 12 grams, so the shekel could be worth 2.67 x $20 $53.33. However, according to Wikipedia, the denarius was worth approx. 1.6 to 2.85 times its metal content, so the shekel value in comparison to the denarius - based on weight - would be reduced by about half, or US$26.67 in modern day value(unless Judea had the same multiplication factor for value vs. metal content, which would push the shekel back to the modern day value of $53.33).
Probably the Roman currency was more widely accepted in the region and thus had a higher value at that time, so the modern day value of, say. US$30 might not be too far off the ancient value of a Judean shekel, based on buying power.
It is interesting that a silver shekel was minted in Jerusalem during the third year of Bar Kokhba's reign in 68 CE with the Temple's facade, a rising star, and on the back, a lulav and the inscription "To the freedom of Jerusalem." I wonder what the modern day value of this ancient shekel is vs its original value?
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