256, Lot: 743. Estimate $100. Sold for $190. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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MALTA, Knights of Rhodes (Knights Hospitaller). Jean Baptiste de Lascaris de Castellar. Grand Master, 1636-1657. CU 4 Tarì (34mm, 9.76 g, 9h). Dated 1637. Countermarks from 1662 to 1741. Crowned coat-of-arms; sun to left, moon to right / Clasped hands within wreath. KM 68 for host coin; for c/m’s: KM 229; Restelli & Sammut p. 216-7. VF.
From the HLT Collection.
During the later 17th and 18th centuries, the Knights of Malta faced a serious problem with counterfeiting of their copper coinage. The administration attempted to alleviate this issue by continually re-validating the coins most counterfeited - the two and four tari pieces - by applying countermarks.
This specimen displays multiple marks: a head of John the Baptist facing slightly to left (countermarked by Rafael Cotoner, 1662), a crowned fleur-de-lis (by Adrien de Wignacourt, 1696), and a crowned crescent (by Emmanuel Pinto, 1741).