Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Zecchino - Philipe Villiers de L'Isle Adam
| Issuer | Order of Malta (Knights Hospitaller) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1530 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Zecchino = 32 Tari (8⁄3) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Christ nimbate, depicted in a full-length mandorla glory, is shown in a frontal, hieratic pose with arms outstretched or in a gesture of blessing. The mandorla is flanked by a total of nine stars arranged asymmetrically — five to the left and four to the right — filling the field in the manner typical of Hospitaller gold coinage. The surrounding Latin legend, rendered in Gothic lettering with ornamental stops, forms a devotional dedicatory inscription. The overall design follows the Venetian zecchino tradition adapted for the Order's ecclesiastical coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | SIT • T • XPE • DAT • Q • TV • REGIS • ISE • DVCAT • (Translation: Sit tibi Christe datus quem tu regis iste ducatus. Lord, you rule this duchy, may it be dedicated to you.) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam was Grand Master during one of the Order's most catastrophic moments: the fall of Rhodes in 1522, after which the Knights spent eight years without a permanent home, wandering as a displaced military order under nominal papal protection. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V resolved the situation in 1530 by granting them Malta and Tripoli as fiefs. This zecchino was struck almost certainly within that same year of resettlement, making it among the earliest coins produced under Maltese sovereignty of the Order.
The zecchino format was borrowed directly from Venetian ducal coinage — a deliberate signal of financial credibility to Mediterranean trading partners.