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1 Daalder "Leeuwendaalder" Lascaris Countermark
| Issuer | Order of Saint John (Knights of Malta) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1636-1657 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A rampant lion to the left within a pearled inner circle, with the date appearing at the top of the field. The countermark of Grand Master Jean Paul Lascaris Castellar (1636–1657), depicting a double-headed eagle, is applied — typically visible between the lion's legs or on the lion's chest — attesting to official Maltese acceptance and valuation of this host coin. A test cut is also present, consistent with contemporary assay practices used to verify silver content. |
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| Additional information |
The Knights of Malta had no functioning mint of their own during much of the mid-seventeenth century, so the Order solved its currency problem by countermarking Dutch leeuwendaalders already in circulation throughout the Mediterranean. The leeuwendaalder was the workhorse trade coin of the Levant trade — cheap silver, widely accepted, and abundant enough that the Dutch Republic was minting them in enormous quantities specifically for export. Countermarking foreign coinage rather than striking original issues was a practical necessity, not an administrative choice.
The Lascaris countermark corresponds to the Grandmastership of Jean-Paul Lascaris Castellar, who held office from 1636 to 1657. Coins bearing his countermark represent the Order's monetary authority exercised entirely through appropriation of another sovereign's coinage.