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15 Tarì - Manuel Pinto de Fonseca
| Issuer | Order of Malta (Knights of St. John) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1759-1761 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 15 Tari (5⁄4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Full-length standing figure of Saint John the Baptist facing slightly right, clad in a camel-skin garment, holding a tall processional cross-staff with a flowing banner in his left hand and gesturing with his right hand toward the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) shown at his feet to the right. The scene is set on a ground line with sparse vegetation. The denomination T·XV appears in the exergue below a horizontal line. The surrounding Latin legend, referencing Matthew 11:11, is arranged around the upper and lateral border, separated by a beaded circle from the milled edge. |
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| Additional information |
Manuel Pinto de Fonseca held the Grand Mastership of the Order of Malta longer than any other in the eighteenth century — from 1741 until his death in 1773 at a claimed age of ninety-two. The tarì denominations struck under his rule were the backbone of commercial exchange across Malta and the central Mediterranean, accepted well beyond the island's shores due to the Order's financial credibility as a sovereign military institution.
KM#258.1 distinguishes this variety from closely related dies issued across the same period. The coinage of Pinto's later years shows minor administrative adjustments in the mint's output, likely reflecting the gradual institutional changes preceding the transition to the reign of Francisco Ximenes de Texada in 1773.