What is a Prutah? . . .

 Likutei Moharan 7:1:9 - Sefaria

וְזֶה שֶׁאָמְרוּ חֲכָמֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (סנהדרין צז.): אֵין מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן־דָּוִד בָּא אֶלָּא עַד שֶׁתִּכְלֶה פְּרוּטָה מִן הַכִּיס; הַיְנוּ שֶׁיִּכְלוּ הָאֶפִּיקוֹרְסִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם אֱמוּנָה בְּנִסִּים, וּמְכַסִּים כָּל הַנִּסִּים בְּדֶרֶךְ הַטֶּבַע, כִּי עִקַּר הַנִּסִּים בְּאֶרֶץ־יִשְׂרָאֵל, כִּי אֶרֶץ־יִשְׂרָאֵל שׁוֹתָה תְּחִלָּה (תענית י.), וּשְׁתִיָּתָהּ מֵהַתְּהוֹמוֹת, שֶׁהֵם לְשׁוֹן: וַתֵּהֹם כָּל הָעִיר (רות א׳:י״ט), שֶׁעַל דָּבָר נִסִּי תְּמֵהִין הָעוֹלָם.

This is the meaning of what our Sages taught: The Mashiach son of David will not come until the [last] penny [prutah] is gone from the pocket (Sanhedrin 97a)

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Interesting to Note:

What is the meaning of the symbols in the prutah in the time of the second temple. I had found out that there was a 8 ray star and a ship anchor on it? what is the meaning of it? and why is there a ’8’ ray star??

Answer

Jews have a religious problem with images of people and animals, which often were the focus of idolatry, and accordingly, the bronze prutahs of the the Second Temple period (until 70 C.E.), like Jewish coins before and after (until this day) were inanimate, including sheaves of wheat, a kingly booth built for shade, and an anchor. The symbolism of the anchor isn’t clear and the guesses range from a memorial to a victory at sea, or a symbol of conservatism, and keeping the situation status quo. The 8 ray star surrounded by a crown, was used on the other side of the anchor prutahs of King Alexander Yanai (even though some pagans worshiped stars, but he wasn’t so religious), which he used (with the crown) not for paganism but just as a symbol of kingdom and rule. He ruled from 104-76 BCE.

Also:

Wikipedia: Israeli Pruta. The pruta was introduced shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, as the 1000th part of the Israeli pound. It replaced the mil, which was the 1000th part of the Palestine pound, a currency issued by the British Mandate of Palestine prior to May 1948.

The word pruta was borrowed from Mishnaic Hebrew, in which it meant "a coin of smaller value". This word was probably derived originally from an Aramaic word with the same meaning. The pruta was abolished in 1960, when the Israeli government decided to change the subdivision of the Israeli pound into 100 agorot. This move was necessary due to the constant devaluation of the Israeli pound, which rendered coins smaller than 10 prutot redundant.

This pruta should not be confused with the halachic pruta, which is the minimal value of money for a variety of halachic applications—among them, the minimal value one is obligated to return if stolen, the minimal value needed to effect a marriage, and the minimal investment needed to be considered an investor (it is equivalent to 0.025 grams^[1] of pure silver).

Antiquity

The prutah was an ancient copper Jewish coin with low value. A loaf of bread in ancient times was worth about 10 prutot (plural of prutah). One prutah was also worth two lepta (singular lepton), which was the smallest denomination minted by the Hasmonean and Herodian Dynasty kings.

Prutot were also minted by the Roman Procurators of the Province of Judea, and later were minted by the Jews during the First Jewish Revolt (sometimes called 'Masada coins').^[1]