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1 Zecchino - Antonio Manoel de Vilhena
| Issuer | Order of St. John of Jerusalem |
|---|---|
| Year | 1725 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Quartered coat of arms of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, surmounted by a princely crown and flanked by two ornamental palm branches, all within a beaded border. The shield combines the arms of the Order of St. John with the personal arms of Vilhena, featuring a lion passant in the upper dexter quarter. The circular legend reads F·D·AN:MANOEL DE VILHENA M M H with the date 1725, disposed around the perimeter of the field. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | F·D·AN:MANOEL DE VILHENA M M H 1725 |
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| Additional information |
António Manoel de Vilhena served as Grand Master of the Order from 1722 until his death in 1736, a tenure marked by aggressive fortification of Malta — most visibly the construction of Fort Manoel, completed in 1723 and named in his honor by the Order's Council. The zecchino denomination itself was directly modeled on the Venetian ducat, a deliberate choice by the Knights to align their coinage with the dominant gold trading currency of the Mediterranean.
The Order struck its own gold at remarkably consistent fineness throughout the eighteenth century, functioning as a sovereign minting authority despite controlling only the island of Malta and its harbor fortifications.