# The Knights' Coinage: Money and Minting in Hospitaller Malta

An episode of [The Story of Malta: The Fortress Island of the Mediterranean — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895465859), 29 Aug 2026, 7:46.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-story-of-malta/episode-0215.mp3

Before the euro, before the scudo, Malta's Knights of St John minted their own money — and it tells a story of power, trade, and daily life on a fortress island. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the evolution of Hospitaller coinage from the Order's early days in Rhodes to the bustling mint of Valletta under Grand Master de la Valette and his successors. They talk silver tari and copper grani, the famous 'Maltese cross' coins, and the moment when a debased currency sparked a revolt in 1775. Along the way, they meet the moneyers behind the dies, the counterfeiters who tested the system, and the pirates who spent the coins as far away as Algiers. The conversation also touches on how the mint's location shifted from Birgu to Valletta, how the Knights controlled the value of money in a Mediterranean economy, and what a single coin can tell us about sovereignty, scarcity, and survival. A fascinating slice of island history that's rarely told. #KnightsOfStJohn #MalteseHistory #Numismatics #HospitallerCoinage #VallettaMint #TariCoin #GranCoin #MalteseScudo #GrandMasterdeValette #BirguMint #Counterfeit #1775Revolt #MediterraneanTrade #Sovereignty #MoneyHistory #IslandEconomy #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the Knights as warriors, as builders, as slave traders even. But there's a quieter side to their rule that's just as revealing — their money.
Luna: Money? Like coins they minted themselves?
Lucas: Exactly. The Order of St John didn't just use whatever currency floated around the Mediterranean. They struck their own — and it was a statement of sovereignty as much as economics. From the early days in Rhodes to the grand mint in Valletta, the coinage tells a story of power, scarcity, and everyday life.
Lucas: Think about it: a coin is the most tangible thing a state can produce. It's got the ruler's name, his symbol, his guarantee of value. When the Knights settled in Malta after being kicked out of Rhodes, they brought that tradition with them. The first mint was in Birgu, the old capital, before it moved to Valletta once the new city was built.
Luna: So what did the coins actually look like?
Lucas: They came in denominations that might sound odd today — the tari and the gran. The tari was a silver coin, originally from the Arabs, and it was the workhorse of daily transactions. The gran was smaller, copper, for the little stuff. And then there was the scudo, the larger silver piece, which was more like a statement coin. All of them carried the Grand Master's coat of arms on one side and usually a cross — often the Maltese cross — on the other.
Lucas: But here's the thing: the value wasn't just in the metal. The Knights controlled the mint tightly, because they knew that if the coins got debased — if they put too little silver in them — people would lose trust. And in a small island economy, that's disaster.
Luna: So they were careful with their silver.
Lucas: They had to be. But there's a fascinating episode in the 18th century where things went wrong. In 1775, a revolt actually broke out in Valletta — partly over the debasement of the coinage. The Knights had been quietly reducing the silver content to stretch their reserves, and when the public caught on, there was real anger. It's one of the few times the Maltese rose up against the Order.
Luna: Wait, that's huge. What happened?
Lucas: The revolt was actually led by a group of priests and some disgruntled locals, and they briefly took over Fort Saint Elmo. It was suppressed, and the leaders were executed or exiled. But the underlying grievance about the money was real — it shows how a seemingly mundane thing like coinage could be a political flashpoint.
Lucas: And speaking of the mint itself — where did they actually make these coins? In the very heart of Valletta, in a building that still exists, near the Grand Master's Palace. The zecca, as they called it, was a bustling workshop with furnaces, dies, and skilled moneyers — many of them Italians or Frenchmen who knew their trade.
Luna: So it was a proper industrial operation.
Lucas: Absolutely. And it wasn't just for local use. Maltese coins circulated all over the Mediterranean — in Sicily, North Africa, even in Ottoman ports, because they were solid and dependable. That was key for a maritime state that lived on trade and privateering. When a corsair brought in booty, it often got melted down and reminted into the Grand Master's coin.
Lucas: But here's a twist — the Knights didn't always mint their own. In the early years, before the mint was fully established, they sometimes used coins struck by the Kingdom of Sicily or the Papal States. So the very act of minting their own money was a step toward full independence. It's like the Order was saying, 'We are a state, not just a religious order.'
Luna: That makes me see the Knights in a whole new light.
Lucas: Yeah, and you know what? This kind of topic — the nitty-gritty of history, like coins — that's what keeps this podcast going. And I want to take a quick moment here, because we keep making these episodes thanks to a small group of listeners who support us directly. A couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. It's ad-free, and every little bit counts.
Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference.
Lucas: So back to the coins. Let me tell you about the design of the most famous one — the scudo of Grand Master Jean de Valette, the man who built the city. He issued a coin that had his bust on one side and a full-length figure of the resurrected Christ on the other. That was a bold statement — tying the Grand Master's authority directly to the divine.
Luna: Wow, that's a heavy image for a coin.
Lucas: It was. And it set the tone for later issues. Each Grand Master wanted to leave his mark on the coinage, and some of them went all out with elaborate designs — ships, saints, allegorical figures. The coins are like a gallery of the Order's self-image.
Lucas: But there's an even more practical side. The Knights had to deal with the fact that Malta had almost no natural resources — no silver mines, no gold. So all the bullion had to come in through trade, plunder, or foreign subsidies. That made the mint a kind of pressure valve: when silver was short, they'd issue more copper coins or, worse, debase the silver. It was a constant balancing act.
Luna: So they were basically at the mercy of the global silver market.
Lucas: Exactly. And that's why the debasement crisis of the 1770s was so telling. It wasn't just a technical problem — it was a sign that the Order's finances were strained, and that had political consequences. When the French arrived in 1798 and kicked the Knights out, one of the first things they did was take over the mint and issue their own currency. So even the end of the Knights' rule is written in the coins.
Lucas: There's also a darker corner of this story: counterfeiting. The mint had to fight a constant battle against fake coins, both local and foreign. In the 17th century, there were trials of counterfeiters — some were even executed. You can imagine, in a small island community, this was taken very seriously.
Luna: Executed for making fake money? That's harsh.
Lucas: It was, but it shows how crucial trust in the currency was. If people couldn't trust a coin, trade would collapse. So the Knights came down hard on anyone who tried to undermine that trust.
Lucas: One last thing — the legacy. Today, the Maltese scudo is still used as a legal tender coin by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, though it's mostly for collectors and ceremonial purposes. It's a direct descendant of what those Knights minted in Valletta. So when you hold one, you're holding a piece of that storia — a history that's still alive.
Luna: That's a great way to put it. So if I ever find an old Maltese coin, what should I look for?
Lucas: Well, first, check for the Grand Master's name and the date. Many coins have the initials of the Grand Master and the year of issue. Also look for the Maltese cross — that's a dead giveaway. And if you see a ship on the reverse, that's often a reference to the Order's naval power. But be careful, there are a lot of fakes out there. Do your research or consult a numismatist.
Luna: Good advice. I'll keep an eye out.
Lucas: And that's the story of Malta's coins — small, but they carry a lot of weight. Next time you're in Valletta and pass by the old mint, take a moment to think about the furnaces and the dies that once shaped an island's destiny.

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