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In 2016, the Central Bank of Malta will issue a numismatic coin in gold representing the copper four tari "patakka".
The obverse shows the emblem of Malta and the year of issue 2016. The reverse features a representation of a "patakka" issued by Grand Master Jean de Valette and depicts a Maltese Cross.
In 1566, Grand Master Jean de Valette embarked on the building of the fortress city of Valletta. As the Great Siege of 1565 had drained the Order's treasury, the Grand Master resorted to the minting of thousands of fiduciary copper coins to make up for the shortage of gold and silver coinage. The thousands of men working on the building of Valletta were given their weekly wages in copper. The copper four tari coin, which was known by the Maltese as "patakka", circulated at par with Maltese and Sicilian silver coinage. This parity became unbalanced after 1636 as a result of the minting of an excessive amount of copper coinage. The "patakka" and the other copper coinage of the Order remained in use in Malta during the early years of British rule. It ceased being legal tender on 25 April 1828.
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