Malta 1970 sovrano
This specimen was lot 74312 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2023), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "MALTA. Sovrano, 1970. Rome (Sovereign Military Order of Malta) Mint. Angelo de Mojana di Cologna. NGC PROOF-63 Cameo. One of just two seen for the type in the NGC census, this Choice example presents the bust of the then-Grand Master, with the Order's crowned coat-of-arms on the reverse." 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.
Recorded mintage: 15,000.
Specification: 8.05 g, 0.900 fine gold, 0.2329 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: Fr-14a; KM X39.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, November 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancient & World Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
Link to:
- Malta 1966 5 scudi Angelus de Mohana
- Malta 1966 10 scudi Angelus de Mohana
- Malta 1970 9 tari
- Coins and currency dated 1970