Malta 1961 5 scudi
This specimen was lot 1030 in Jean Elsen sale 139 (Brussels, December 2018), where it sold for €125 (about US$167 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MALTE, Ordre souverain militaire, Siège vacant, AV 5 scudi, 1961. Flan poli. Fines griffes. Superbe à Fleur de Coin. (Sovereign Order of Malta, sede vacante, gold five scudi of 1961. Proof, hairlines, Extremely Fine - Uncirculated.)"
The Order of Malta, originally crusading knights, ruled the island from 1566 to 1798, when they were evicted by Napoleon. After various vicissitudes, they ended up in Rome in 1834, where they remain, administering various charities. After the island of Malta obtained her independence in 1964, the Order resumed issuing coins but has never been invited back to the island. The Order lacks sovereign status and its issues are classed as fantasies but are still collected nonetheless. This issue of 1961 is accompanied by a ten scudi, also gold.
Recorded mintage: 1,200.
Specification: 4 g, 0.900 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-2; Bruce-3.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Unusual World Coins, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 139, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2018.
Link to:
- Order of Malta 1963 5 scudi
- Order of Malta 1963 10 scudi
- Coins and currency dated 1961
- return to coins of Order of Malta