'A shekel' signifies the price or estimation of good and truth, and 'half a shekel' signifies the determination of the quantity thereof.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 3104)

6312. Because hell sees by this inferior light, a person inevitably perishes if he is not raised up above it; and he is raised up by means of the good of faith. There are also hells which inhabit a sphere involving greater craftiness; their inhabitants are those who have been malevolent inwardly and have worked out many artful ways of depriving other people of their goods, and have devised many kinds of tricks so that they could have control over them. But I have noticed that this sphere flows into the external sensory sphere; it comes from those parts in a person's back where his involuntary powers are located. This is why a sensory sphere is so powerful.