30 Tarì - Manuel Pinto de Fonseca

Manuel Pinto de Fonseca served as Grand Master of the Order from 1741 until his death in 1773 — an unusually long tenure that coincided with the Order's last period of genuine financial and naval autonomy. The 30 Tarì was the Order's principal large silver denomination, roughly equivalent in weight and function to the contemporary scudo issues of Italian states, and circulated within the tightly controlled economy of Malta as well as in Mediterranean trade.

Pinto de Fonseca was a Portuguese nobleman who aggressively defended Hospitaller sovereignty against both Bourbon pressure and papal interference. The dating range on this type reflects a mid-reign recoinage rather than a new issue — the Order periodically called in older silver to reclaim seigniorage.