Military Order of Malta"s Knight - is a sovereign state without own territory. This Order was found in XI century in Palestine. In the middle of XII century Order become a strong military power. After the defeat of Kingdom of Jerusalem in the end of XII century (by islamic forces), Order emigrated on the Crete Island. In 1308 Malta"s Knights conquered the Rhodos Island. And then - Island of Malta. In 1798 Russian emperor Paul I become the Great magister (ruler) of Order, but after his assassination in March 1801 Russia lost island of Malta. Now Military Order of Malta"s Knight - is a independent country. But Order haven"t own territory (beside Villa Di Malta in Rome). But Order is very reach. And it have own currency (scudo). Order"s coins is rather rare.
Very interesting. Didn't the Isle of Man issue some Knights of Malta commemoratives a few years back?
The numismatics of Malta and the SMOM is a very interesting topic indeed. The SMOM also have their own Euro-denominated stamps and Malta's banknotes also have interesting and admirable designs.
Whether one considers these pieces to be coins ... well, they are sold as fundraisers, and the SMOM does certainly not issue any pieces for circulation. Nevertheless an interesting topic! The order uses the old Maltese currency setup (20 grani = 1 tarì, 12 tarì = 1 scudo). By the way, people who are interested in buying such pieces should make sure that they actually get SMOM coins, like the ones you showed us. There are some organizations which pick similar names and even sell "coins" but do not have anything to do with this order. Christian
This one is slightly different but still the Knights Order of the Knights Hospitallier 10 Lira Pope John Paul II & Archbishop Christodulos Badge of the Order This is a Fantasy Piece Not come across a Military order coin yet
Order of the Knights Hospitallier - is the private organization which mints own "coins". This "coins" is imitation of the Military Order of Malta"s Knight coins. A couple years ago I bought a several Hospitallier"s "coins" because I supposed that it was Malta"s Knight-coins. I was wrong.
The Military Order of Malta came from the Knights of St. John. The Knights of St. John was one of the two Crusader military orders, the Knights Templar was the other. In popular literature, the Knights of St. John manufactured the Maltese Falcon as a gift for King Charles V of Spain after he gave the island of Rhodes to the order.
9 tari 1967, silver .900, size - 30 mm, weight - 9 g., mintage - 10000 pcs. Fra Angelo de Mojana di Cologna. Rare and beautiful coin.
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is the modern name of the medieval order known by many other titles including the Order of Saint John and the Knights Hospitaller. They administered the Mediterranean island of Malta from 1530 to 1798, when they were permanently evicted by Napoleon. During their administration of Malta, they issued the 30 Tari silver crown-sized coin. This one is from 1768 during the Grand Mastership of Fra' Manuel Pinto da Fonseca, a Portuguese nobleman who led the order from 1741 to his death in 1773. The obverse shows a coat arms that is a combination of Pinto's house and the order's. The reverse is an image of St. John the Baptist.