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

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

has been a member of the

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since 1 May 2004, and is a member of the

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. Malta adopted the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

as its official currency on 1 January 2008, replacing the

Maltese lira The lira (, 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 the lira was abbrev ...

. 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 euro (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common Obverse and reverse, reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each cou ...

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 develope ...

and Dun Karm, 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) 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 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 The ''Official Journal of the European Union'' (the ''OJEU'') is the official gazette of record for the European Union (EU). It is published every working day in all of the official languages of the member states of the EU. Only legal acts p ...

Mintage quantities

Mints

2008, 2016-2018:

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2010-2015:

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2019-present:?

Identifying marks

€2 commemorative coins

Maltese constitutional history

Maltese Prehistoric Sites

From Children in Solidarity

Featuring the Role of the Malta Community Chest Fund in Society.

Maltese Walled Cities

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; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. 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 euro (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common Obverse and reverse, reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each cou ...

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...