1 Zecchino - Gregorio Carafa

Gregorio Carafa held the Grand Mastership from 1680 to 1690, a decade dominated by the Order's naval campaigns against Ottoman shipping in the eastern Mediterranean. The Zecchino — Malta's gold coinage closely modeled on the Venetian ducat in fineness and weight — served the Order's international commercial and diplomatic transactions, where the near-pure gold standard was non-negotiable for credibility among Levantine and European trading partners alike.

Carafa's tenure coincided with the aftermath of the Great Siege's long shadow and the Order's aggressive privateering operations. Mintages under individual Grand Masters were typically modest, and ten-year issues like this one were struck in relatively small runs across the decade rather than in a single campaign.