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It is a mitzva to have the pidyon on the thirtieth day after birth, meaning four weeks and two days later. So, if the birth was on a Sunday, the pidyon takes place on a Tuesday. If the birth was on Thursday, the pidyon would be on Shabbat. However, since a pidyon may not be performed on Shabbat, it is delayed to Sunday.
It is customary to use five pure silver coins, whose total weight should be 85 grams. The pidyon may also be performed with objects of an equal value to that much silver, but not with paper money. Since the price of silver changes, the price of the five coins does too. In recent years, the price in Israel has fluctuated between 150 and 300 shekels.
While it is the father’s obligation to perform the pidyon, whether the baby is considered a firstborn is dependent upon the mother. For this purpose, firstborn is defined as “the first to open the womb.” So even if the father already had children with someone else, a child requires redemption if he is his mother’s firstborn. If a baby was born after a miscarriage or abortion, and the limbs of that fetus had taken shape (meaning forty days had passed since conception), the live baby is exempt from pidyon, as he is not considered the first of the womb. Similarly, a baby born by Caesarian section is not redeemed, since he did not pass through the womb in the normal way.
The firstborn child of a priest or Levite, and the firstborn child of the daughter of a priest or Levite, do not require a pidyon.
