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Tari - Jean de Vallette
| Issuer | Order of Saint John (Knights of Malta) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1566 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 26 mm |
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| Reverse description | The severed head of Saint John the Baptist presented in profile, rendered in the hammered style typical of mid-sixteenth-century Maltese coinage, occupying the central field. The surrounding Latin legend, punctuated by a cross pattée, encircles the head and references the saint's martyrdom for truth and justice. The overall execution is characteristic of the crude but expressive die-work associated with the Birgu (Vittoriosa) mint under Grand Master Jean de Vallette. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Jean de Vallette became Grand Master in 1557 and within eight years had survived the Great Siege of 1565, during which an Ottoman force estimated at 40,000 men failed to dislodge roughly 700 Knights and several thousand Maltese soldiers. This copper tari was struck the following year, as de Vallette redirected the Order's resources toward founding the new fortified city that would bear his name. The Knights operated their own mint at Birgu — later Vittoriosa — issuing coinage with near-sovereign authority under papal sanction.
Schembri recorded only a handful of die variants for this type; Restelli's numbering places this among the earlier emissions of the post-Siege administrative reorganization.