Jean de Vallette served as Grand Master from 1557 until his death in 1568, and his tenure was defined almost entirely by the Great Siege of 1565, in which Ottoman forces under Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Malta for four months before withdrawing. The copper tari issued under his name the following year was struck in a Order still rebuilding its finances and fortifications — construction of Valletta, the new capital bearing his name, had begun just months prior.
Copper issues of the Order from this period circulated primarily among the local Maltese population rather than within the hospitaller hierarchy itself, which transacted in silver and gold.
Jean de Vallette served as Grand Master from 1557 until his death in 1568, and his tenure was defined almost entirely by the Great Siege of 1565, in which Ottoman forces under Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Malta for four months before withdrawing. The copper tari issued under his name the following year was struck in a Order still rebuilding its finances and fortifications — construction of Valletta, the new capital bearing his name, had begun just months prior.
Copper issues of the Order from this period circulated primarily among the local Maltese population rather than within the hospitaller hierarchy itself, which transacted in silver and gold.