MALTA. Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights of Malta). Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim. Grandmaster, 1797-1799. 30 Tari 1798 (Silver, 41 mm, 29.76 g, 12 h) FERDINANDVS HOMPESCH M M Cuirassed bust of Ferdinand Hompesch to left. Rev. HOSPITAL ET S SEP HIER 1798 Coat of arms on the chest of a crowned double eagle holding in each beak a Tau cross. Davenport 1611. Restelli/Sammut p. 204, 2. Extremely fine.


Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim was the last Grandmaster of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John to reside in Malta, which he surrendered without a fight to Napoléon's invasion force in June 1798. Having stepped down from the office in 1799, he died in 1805 in Montpellier of asthma