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5 Grani - Alof de Wignacourt
| Issuer | Order of St. John (Knights of Malta) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1619 |
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| Value | 5 Grani (1⁄48) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field bears the quartered shield of the Order of St. John, combining the arms of the Hospitallers with those of Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt, divided into four quadrants. The shield displays the characteristic cross of the Order alongside the Wignacourt family arms. A circular Latin legend surrounds the shield, reading the Grand Master's name and title. The die-struck design is typical of the hammered coinage produced at Valletta during the early seventeenth century, with characteristic irregular flan edges. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ☩ F · ALOFIVS DE WIGNACOVRT · M (Translation: Fra Alof de Wignacourt, Master) |
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| Additional information |
Alof de Wignacourt served as Grand Master from 1601 to 1622, one of the longer tenures of the period, and is perhaps better remembered today as the man who employed Caravaggio on Malta in 1607–08 than for his coinage. The Order's copper issues of this period circulated almost exclusively within Malta and Gozo, functioning as a fiduciary small change that the Knights themselves had little practical use for — it was the local Maltese population that handled these denominations daily.
KM#26 is documented with minor die variations across the Restelli corpus.