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1 Zecchino - Martin Garzez
| Issuer | Order of Malta (Knights of St. John) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1595-1601 |
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| Currency | Scudo (1530-1825) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Christ nimbate, depicted in a frontal mandorla (vesica piscis), his right hand raised in benediction and his left holding the Gospels. Five stars are arranged to the right of the mandorla and four stars to the left, filling the field in the customary manner of Hospitaller zecchini. The encircling legend is a devotional invocation in Latin, separated by small stops. |
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| Additional information |
Martin Garzez served as Grand Master of the Order from 1595 to 1601, and his coinage reflects the period when Malta was still consolidating its position as the primary naval bulwark against Ottoman expansion in the central Mediterranean following the Great Siege of 1565. The zecchino format itself was borrowed directly from the Venetian ducat tradition — the Order understood that trade credibility depended on issuing gold of recognizable fineness and weight.
The .999 fineness is not incidental. The Knights maintained their mint on Malta to exacting standards partly as a matter of institutional prestige, and Garzez-era zecchini are consistently well-regarded for their metal quality among the series.