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4 Tari - Juan de Homedes
| Issuer | Order of St. John of Jerusalem |
|---|---|
| Year | 1553 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Central device depicts the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) standing to the left, with a cross-staff and banner, set within a rounded cartouche or shield-like frame, all in high relief. The lamb is rendered in a stylized, medieval manner typical of Hospitaller coinage of this period. The date 1553 is incorporated into the surrounding Latin legend, which reads around the entire periphery within a beaded border. The reverse legend references the Biblical passage from the Gospel of John, identifying Christ as the one who takes away the sins of the world. The composition is devout and symbolic, reflecting the religious character of the Order. |
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| Mintage | 1553 |
| Additional information |
Juan de Homedes, a Spanish knight who served as Grand Master from 1536 until his death in 1553, presided over the Order during one of its most precarious decades — the aftermath of the 1522 loss of Rhodes and the ongoing Ottoman pressure on Malta, culminating in the failed siege of Tripoli in 1551, which the Order surrendered without serious resistance. This coinage was struck in the final year of his tenure, possibly the last issues authorized under his authority before his death in September of that year.
The 4 Tari denomination was the workhorse silver unit of Hospitaller Malta, struck to a Sicilian monetary standard inherited from the island's Norman-Aragonese past.