2 Tari - Jean de Vallette

Jean de Vallette served as Grand Master during the Great Siege of 1565, when an Ottoman force estimated at 40,000 men failed to dislodge roughly 700 Knights and several thousand Maltese soldiers from the island. The siege's failure was a turning point in Ottoman westward expansion in the Mediterranean, and Vallette's name was given to the new fortified city begun immediately after — La Valletta, founded 1566.

Coinage struck under his mastership carries particular weight for collectors of the Order's series. The tari denomination was the standard fractional silver unit of the Hospitaller monetary system, derived from the earlier Sicilian tari.