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4 Tari - Jean de Vallette
| Issuer | Order of St. John (Knights Hospitaller) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1557-1568 |
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| Reference(s) | Restelli#14, Schembri#7 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Standing full-length figure of Saint John the Baptist occupying the central field, draped in a camel-hair mantle and holding a long cross-staff in his right hand, with a lamb (Agnus Dei) at his feet to the lower left. The saint is depicted in the traditional iconographic manner associated with Hospitaller coinage of this period. A beaded inner border frames the central device, with a circular Latin legend reading around the periphery, preceded by a cross pattée. The composition reflects the devotional character of the Order, whose patron saint appears prominently on coinage throughout the Grand Mastership of Vallette. |
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| Additional information |
Jean de Vallette served as Grand Master from 1557 until his death in 1568, a tenure defined almost entirely by the Great Siege of 1565, when Ottoman forces under Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Malta for over four months. The Order's finances were under extreme strain before, during, and after the siege — emergency coinage and irregular minting schedules were a practical necessity, not an administrative choice.
The 4 Tari was the Order's principal silver denomination, and examples from Vallette's rule are among the most historically loaded issues in the entire Hospitaller series. Die workmanship during this period was inconsistent, a direct consequence of the disruptions of 1565.