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30 Tari - Manuel Pinto de Fonseca
| Issuer | Order of Malta (Knights of St. John) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1761 |
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| Currency | Scudo (1530-1825) |
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| Obverse description | The elaborate quartered shield of the Order of Malta surmounted by a grand master's crown, flanked on the left by an olive branch and on the right by a palm frond, all rendered in the Baroque style. The shield displays the heraldic arms associated with Grand Master Manuel Pinto de Fonseca. The circular legend reads F·EMMANVEL PINTO M·M·H·S·S·1761, distributed around the periphery with the date appearing at the upper left. The coin's milled border frames the composition. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Manuel Pinto de Fonseca held the Grand Mastership longer than almost any other in the Order's history — from 1741 until his death in 1773 at a claimed age of 92 — and his prolific coinage reflects that tenure directly. The 30 Tari was the Order's principal large silver denomination, functioning as the de facto trade coin of Malta during a period when the island's economy ran heavily on the hospitaller revenue system and the proceeds of corso, the licensed privateering that the Order still practiced against Ottoman and North African shipping.
The KM#265.2 designation distinguishes this from the earlier Pinto 30 Tari issues by die variety. Dav EC III#1601a places it firmly within the European crown-sized series, though its actual monetary orbit was decidedly Mediterranean rather than continental.