4 Tari - Pietro del Monte Fiduciary

Pietro del Monte Santa Maria served as Grand Master from 1568 until his death in 1572, a tenure dominated by the immediate aftermath of the Great Siege of 1565 and the urgent rebuilding of Maltese defenses. This copper fiduciary issue was struck with an officially sanctioned value exceeding its metal content — a deliberate policy, as the Order's treasury was under sustained strain from fortification costs at Valletta, the new capital still under construction when this coin was minted.

Fiduciary copper coinage of this type circulated primarily within Malta itself, where the Order could enforce acceptance. Export was economically pointless.