15 Tarì - Ferdinand von Hompesch

Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim holds the singular distinction of being the last Grand Master to actually rule Malta. He surrendered the island to Napoleon in June 1798 after a siege lasting less than two days — a capitulation so swift it scandalized the Order across Europe. Hompesch was subsequently forced to abdicate, and the Knights never recovered their Maltese base.

This coin was struck in the final months before that collapse, making it effectively the last silver issue of the Order's 268-year Maltese sovereignty. Very few coinage types can be dated with such precision to an institution's final weeks of political existence.