Maltese euro coins feature three separate designs for the three series of coins.

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

has been a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

since 1 May 2004, and is a member of the

Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union The economic and monetary union (EMU) of the European Union is a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union at three stages. There are three stages of the EMU, each of which consists of progr ...

. Malta adopted the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

as its official currency on 1 January 2008, replacing the

Maltese lira The lira ( mt, lira Maltija, plural: ''liri'', ISO 4217 code: ''MTL'') or pound (until ca. 1986 in English, code ) was the currency of Malta from 1972 until 31 December 2007. One lira was divided into 100 cents, each of 10 mils. After 1986 th ...

. For a period of one month until 31 January, there was a dual circulation for Malta where the Euro and Maltese lira were used alongside each other.

Maltese euro designs

For images of the common side and a detailed description of the coins, see

euro coins There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each country in the eurozone ...

Design selection process

The selection of the designs of the coins was decided by public consultation in two rounds. The first round of the consultation process started on 14 January 2006 and ended on 29 January 2006. During this period the Maltese public could participate in the process by choosing from a total of twelve options, divided into four design themes – Prehistoric Malta, Renaissance Malta, The Maltese Identity and The Maltese Archipelago. Three different options were presented for each theme. The results of the first round voting were The Baptism of Christ in St John’s Co-Cathedral (3498 votes), Malta’s Coat of Arms (2742 votes) and Mnajdra Temple Altar (1872 votes). Another design, The Fort St. Angelo option, received 2037 votes, but was not included as one of the three chosen options, since the Baptism of Christ received the most votes in that theme. Along with the visual design options, the public was also given several alternative options, which were voted on in the same manner. The first and second most popular suggestions made by the public were the

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

and

Dun Karm Carmelo Psaila, better known as Dun Karm (Żebbuġ, 18 October 1871 – 13 October 1961) was a Maltese priest, writer and poet, sometimes called 'the bard of Malta'. He is widely recognised as the Maltese national poet. Life He was ed ...

, respectively on the Maltese euro coin set. The Steering Committee for the adoption of the euro ultimately decided to include the most popular suggestion, the Maltese Cross, with the three chosen by the public. These four finalists were then sent to a designer (

Noel Galea Bason Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places *Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid * Mount Noel, Britis ...

) and four designs were rendered for the second round of voting. Image:Eurocoins.malta.choice4.jpg, 1st place:
Maltese cross Image:Eurocoins.malta.choice1.jpg, 2nd place:
Maltese coat of arms Image:Eurocoins.malta.choice3.jpg, 3rd place:
Mnajdra temple Image:Eurocoins.malta.choice2.jpg, 4th place:
Baptism of Christ During the second phase, running from 29 May until 9 June 2006, the public was asked to choose the actual designs for the euro coins from the four mock ups produced by the designer. The three designs with the highest number of votes would then become the final design for the Maltese face of the euro coin set. The results of the second round were

, followed by the

Coat of arms of Malta The coat of arms of Malta is the national coat of arms of the country of Malta. The present coat of arms is described by the Emblem and Public Seal of Malta Act of 1988 as a shield showing an heraldic representation of the national flag of Malta; ...

and the Mnajdra Temples. The Central Bank of Malta released the final designs of the euro coins on 19 February 2007. On 23 October 2007, the designs were officially published in the

Official Journal of the European Union An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...

Mintage quantities

Mints

2008, 2016-2018:

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

2010-2015:

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Identifying marks

€2 commemorative coins

Other commemorative coins (Collectors' coins)

Malta joined the Eurozone in 2008 and they have minted several collectors' coins in

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. Their face value range from 10 to 50 euro. This is mainly done as a legacy of old national practice of minting gold and silver coins. These coins are not intended to be used as means of payment, so they do not circulate.

References

External links

European Central Bank – Malta
{{Euro topics Euro coins by issuing country

Euro coins There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each country in the eurozone ...

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...