Malta 1628 grano
This specimen was lot 2099 in Jean Elsen sale 163 (Brussels, November 2025), where it sold for €220 (about US$254 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MALTE, Ordre de Saint-Jean, Antoine de Paule (1623-1636), Cu 1 grano, 1628. D/ Écu aux armes du grand maître. R/ Croix cantonnée de la date. Surfrappé sur un grano à la légende de revers "VT COMMODIVS" (reste de légende visible au revers). (Order of Malta, Antoine de Paule, 1623-36, copper grano of 1628. Obverse: arms of the grandmaster in a plain field; reverse: Maltese cross cantonned with the date. Struck over a grano with the reverse legend "VT COMMODIVS". Fine - Very Fine.)"
This scarce type was struck 1626-28. The reverse legend, "+HOSPITAL HIERVSALEM", translates as, "[Order of the] Hospitallers [of] Jerusalem." Wikipedia comments, "Fra' Antoine de Paule (c. 1551 – 9 June 1636) was elected the 56th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (the Order of Malta) on 10 March 1623. He died on Malta thirteen years later, on 9 June 1636, after a long illness and at the age of 85. His epitaph eulogizes him as a leader who both loved his subjects and was loved by them in return. He is said to have made more resources available to the Order, thus strengthening it. He also sought to fortify ramparts which the Order had erected for defense."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.25 g, copper, 22 mm diameter, this specimen is 3,12 g.
Catalog reference: KM 50, Schembri 86, 1.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 163, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2025.
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