Malta 1611 4 tari
This specimen was lot 6412 in CNG Triton XXVIII (New York, January 2025), where it sold for $8,575. The catalog description[1] noted, "MALTA, Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Alof de Wignacourt. Grandmaster, 1601-1622. AR 4 Tarì. Valletta mint. Dated 1611. Crowned coat-of-arms / Head of St. John the Baptist on platter. Iridescent toning, a few minor scratches. VF. From the Drewry Family Collection. Ex Stanley Gibbons Collection (Part II, NASCA, 7 December 1981), lot 4429." Many of the baroque coins of Malta feature the severed head of John the Baptist on a platter. This type was struck 1609, 1611, 1619-22. This example realized over ten times the catalog value. Malta, an island between Italy and Tunisia was ruled by the Knights of St. John from the 1500's to their ouster by Napoleon in 1798.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 31 mm diameter, 10.20 g, 9 h axis.
Catalog reference: Gatt 11-4T-37X31; KM 14.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Gasvoda, Michael, Victor England, Eric McFadden, Dave Michaels, Bill Dalzell and Lance Hickman, Triton XXVIII, Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, LLC, 2024.
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