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30 Tari - Manuel Pinto de Fonseca
| Issuer | Order of St. John |
|---|---|
| Year | 1761-1768 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Standing full-length figure of Saint John the Baptist facing slightly left, clad in a garment of camel skin, his right hand raised in benediction and his left hand holding a staff surmounted by a banner bearing the cross of the Order. A small lamb reclines at his feet to the right, with sparse ground vegetation indicated below. The legend NON SVRREXIT MAIOR curves around the upper field, referencing the Gospel passage praising John the Baptist, while the denomination T·XXX appears in the exergue. A toothed border frames the entire composition. |
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| Additional information |
Manuel Pinto de Fonseca held the Grand Mastership of the Order of St. John longer than any other in the eighteenth century — from 1741 until his death in 1773 at the reputed age of 92. The 30 Tari was the Order's principal large silver denomination, struck at the Valletta mint from Maltese-controlled bullion at a time when the Knights were still functioning as a genuine sovereign naval power, maintaining galleys and conducting operations against Ottoman and Barbary shipping.
The Tari system descended from the medieval Arab *tari* weight standard, absorbed into Sicilian and then Hospitaller coinage centuries before this piece was struck.