Joseph C. Sammut K.M.
From time immemorial the Maltese Islands, because of their unique strategic position in the Mediterranean, have attracted those powers who through the ages dominated the Middle Sea. Successive foreign rulers foisted on the inhabitants their own currencies as well as other foreign coins as it suited them best.
The islands’ numismatic history can be traced back over two millennia. Malta and Gozo have known three periods of numismatic culture confirmed by the issue and existence of locally struck coins. The first is the little-known autonomous issue of a bronze coinage struck after the islands were ceded to Rome by the Carthaginians in 218 BC at the outbreak of the Second Punic War. This period of Romano-Maltese bronze coinage reflects the triple (Punic/Greek/Roman) culture prevalent during the last two centuries BC. The second and better known was the period of the rule of the Order of St John, whose coinage, struck between 1530 and 1798, has been the subject of a number of publications. The third period, much more recent, began after the establishment of the Central Bank of Malta in 1968, the demonetization of British currency during 1971/72 and the subsequent issue of Maltese coins for general circulation and numismatic purposes.
Following the Roman conquest of the Maltese islands by Tiberius Sempronius Longus in 218 BC and their integration within the province of Sicily, the islands gradually prospered and a local bronze coinage based on Roman weight standards was emitted. For some time these Maltese coins circulated alongside Carthaginian coins, which in pre-Roman Malta were the principal circulating medium. While eminent scholars and numismatists like Albert Mayr, G. F. Hill and Charles Seltman date the islands’ first coins to before 218 BC, the late Edoardo Coleiro contends that these were more likely issued in about 212 BC, when Rome allowed all Sicilian municipia to coin their own money, limited to a bronze coinage.1
The first type of Romano-Maltese bronze coins bears on its obverse a male head attributed to Hercules by Mayr,2 Hill3 and Head.4 Seltman5 and Guillaumier6 ascribe it to Ba’al Shamman, the god of fertility, whilst Coleiro contends that it represents the god Eshmun because the sign of the kerykeon, which features on the left of the head shown on Malta’s first coin, is the symbol of the divinity in the Phoenician religion. On the reverse there is an object resembling a conical sacrificial cap with the Phoenician trilitic inscription aleph nun nun, commonly interpreted as ‘onan, which may mean ‘ship’ and which is held to indicate the Punic and pre-Roman name of Malta.7 However, in a scientific study on the ‘onan inscription or legend carried out in 2002, Paul Guillaumier read the Phoenician letters ‘Anin’, the abbreviated form of Adonin, the name or title of the god Ba’al Shamman, ‘Our Lord’, and rules out its meaning as ‘onan.
He further suggests that the inscription may probably denote that the epithet of the god ‘Anin’ could have been the other name by which Malta was known in Punic Times.8 In all, there are four types of coins of the period showing on their reverse the Phoenician trilitic inscription above, below or flanking the main design. The first, as already stated, has a sacrificial cap, the second shows three standing divinities (Osiris flanked by Isis and Nephthys), the third depicts a ram’s head and the fourth a tripod, on their reverse.
While the first coin of Malta depicts a male head on the obverse, all subsequent issues up to about 15 BC have a diademed or veiled female head identified by various scholars as Astarte, Ceres, Hera, Isis, Juno or other goddesses Two of this type of coins, though bearing the same reverse design of a four-winged kneeling figure of Osiris, have a different symbol in front of the divinity’s head, the first has the sign of Tanit and the second an ear of corn. On both coins the Greek legend or inscription MEAITAIQN (of the Maltese) appears behind the head.
Besides revealing the religious beliefs of the Maltese prevalent during the last two centuries BC, Romano-Maltese coins reflect the gradual cultural development from a Punic to a Latin influence. Between 218 BC and about 160 BC, Maltese culture, as testified by the use of the Phoenician trilitic inscription was completely Punic.9 The appearance of the Greek inscription MEJIITAIΩN (of the Maltese) alongside Punic deities denotes that a Punic/Hellenistic type of culture existed from about 160 BC to approximately 50 BC, when the latter element completely superseded the former and a Graeco/Roman element was introduced with the adoption of a Latin inscription on the reverse of a coin bearing a Greek inscription on its obverse. The influence of Hellenistic culture is also evident in the legend TAYAITQN of the Gozitans) inscribed on two coin types struck in Gozo during the first century BC.
Another Bronze Romano-Maltese coin, a Semis, issued in about 35 BC shows on its obverse a female head and the inscription MEAITAIQN TO THE LEFT. On its reverse there is a curule chair with an inscription around it reading: C. ARRUNTANUS. BALB. PROP. The curule chair symbolizes the authority of the Propraetor of Sicily of which the Maltese islands formed part. Balbus was propraetor there between 37 and 36 BC.
Edoardo Coleiro wrote in 1971 that some Romano-Maltese coins were at times re-stamped to indicate a devaluation.10 However, I tend to believe that, as the practice of countermarking Roman brass and copper coins was quite widespread up to the third century,11 Maltese coins of the period were, likewise countermarked to extend the area in which these pieces would be accepted as currency. Adolfo Mini wrote in his excellent book on Monete di Bronzo della Siclia Antica that Romano-Maltese coins are said to have also been found in Agrigento and Sciacca in Sicily.12
Towards the year 35 BC Maltese coins became completely Roman in character with the first appearance of the Graeco Latin inscription – MELITAS – on the coinage of Malta. As no Romano-Maltese coins seem to have been struck after the end of the first century BC, it is generally held that soon after the Roman province of Sicily stopped coining money towards the end of the last century BC, the Maltese began to make use of Roman metropolitan coinage,13 which at the time was current throughout the Empire and which gradually became the standard currency in the Maltese islands.
After the breakup of the Roman Empire in AD 395 Malta was conquered by the muslims in about AD 870.
The Muslims who settled in the Maltese Islands after AD 871 gradually became an affluent community, producing sugar, salt, paper and cotton in an island which ‘abounded in everything that is good and in the blessing of God’. The residents eventually became rich enough to be able to pay ‘infinita moneta’, a tribute demanded by Count Roger the Norman who invaded Malta in 1091. Helen Brown who analysed the treasure trove discovered at |Mdina in 1698, from the description of the hoard listed by Gian Antonio Ciantar in his ‘Malta Illustrata’ (1771), concludes that the coins were struck between 1038 and 1087 and came from the Egyptian mint whilst the majority of them bore the name of al-Mustansir.14 The discovery in 2009 of the first and only coin of Muslim Malta, now in the collection of the Central Bank of Malta, was most important. For many years numismatists had categorically stated that not a single Maltese coin had been known for the whole period prior to 1530, from which they concluded that coins circulating in Malta during the Arab period were those struck by the Muslims in Sicily. The gold quarter dinar, discovered by Mr Andre de Clermont, a specialist numismatist in the United Kingdom, was struck in the year 472 of the Higra (AD 1079). It fully acknowledges a sure sign of economic activity in Muslim Malta and shows evidence of commercial activity requiring the use of gold coinage.
On its reverse this Muslim coin reads al-Imam\Al-Mustansir Billah\ amir al-mu’minin that this al-Munstansir is endowed with the dual title of Imam (leader in public prayer) and Amir (commander of the believers). Professor Stanley Fiorini, Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow of the University of Malta, says that the two descriptions on this coin – spiritual Imam and military Amir – jointly characterize the office of Caliph, literally successor that is to Mohammad who created the theocracy of Islam in which the secular and the religious are one and the same). Thus this description together with the date 472 of the Higra corresponding to the year 1079 of the Christian era identify al-Mustansir as the eighth Fatimid Caliph whose reign, the longest ever in the annals of Islam, spread over almost 60 years between 1035 and 1094.15
In its general appearance this Muslim-Maltese coin is entirely conventional. On the obverse is found the Muslim declaration of faith, the shahada or Kalima which reads la ilah illa Allah (no God but God) followed by Muhammad rasul Allah (Muhammad is God’s messenger round which is largely unread because the coin was struck on a flan too small to receive it in full. However, the well-known passage Muhammad rasul Allah is clearly visible anticlockwise between 12.00 and 9 o’clock. On the reverse can be seen the name and the title of the Fatimid Caliph al-Imam al-Mustansir billah Amir al-mu’minin (The Imam al-Mustansir billah Commander of the Faithful), in the margin clearly legible is the mint and date legend: bismillah duriba hadha’l dinar be Malta sanat ihnajnwa saba’in wa arba’ mi’a (in the name of God), this dinar was struck in Malta the year two and seventy and four hundred (472 H)’. The coin weighs i.30 grams which is slightly heavier than the conventional tari’. It is also interesting to note that the arrangement of the legends on the coin are subtly different from all those recorded for the entire coinage of al-Mustansir. This indicates that the die-sinker could exercise considerable freedom in the spacing and arrangement of the inscription.
Mr Robert Darley Doran, a numismatist and consultant on Islamic coins and author of important works on the subject after authenticating the genuineness of the Muslim-Maltese coin stated that ‘it is fortunate that the importance and interest of this coin was recognised by knowledgeable numismatists who could read its legends. Many of these small tari’ pieces from Tunisia and Sicily appear on the market but they are often in a very poor condition and these receive little attention from dealers and collectors.16
With the end of Muslim domination in 1091 the circulating medium in Maltese islands consisted of the coins of the successive rulers of the islands – Normans (1091-1194), Swabians (1194-1266), Angevins (1266-82), Aragonese and Castellians (1282-1530). Although no locally struck coins of the medieval period in the Maltese islands are known and none exist either in public or private collections, several references to Maltese specie like augustale usualis or uncias auri can be found in official documents and notarial acts of the period. One such document refers to a credit sale and a payment of 35 Maltese Uncie pecunie malte for two oxen, one bull and a quantity of wheat and barley bought by Benedictus Dinkili from Giuliano Farruge. This document is to be found in the Notarial Archives in Valletta.17 The contract was drawn up by Notary Paolo Bonello on 10 September 1467.
According to both Sicilian and Maltese documents of the period the value of Maltese Medieval coins was one-seventh of the Sicilian equivalent (moneta Malte que computator ad racienem de septem pro uncia de moneta Sicilie).18 Their presumed and possible existence will for many years remain a vexata quaestio between the historian and the numismatist.
Charles V, King of Spain and titular head of the Holy Roman Empire, conceded the Maltese islands and the fortress of Tripoli to the Hospitaller Order of St John on 23 March 1530. But it was not before 26 October 1530 that the Knights set foot on Malta. The seven months prior to the arrival of Grand Master Phillippe Villiers de Lisle Adam and the Knights in Malta were full protracted negotiations with regard to the duties on the exportation of grain from Sicily to Malta and the coining of money by the Knights in the latter island. According to a document first traced by Roberto Valentini in the National Library of Malta, Charles V himself had initially denied the Order the privilege of minting their own currency,19 and it was only after much negotiation and the intercession of Pope Clement VII, that the Order, according to the historian L’Abbé de Vertot, finally acquired the right of minting its own coinage in Malta,20 in spite of insinuations against the Order and the strong efforts by the Master of the Mint of Messina to deny the Knights the privilege of minting their own coins.21
No records of the mint of the Order of St John in Malta before 1556 have as yet been traced. However, it is highly probable that the first tools for coining the Order’s money were brought over from Messina in Sicily. L’Isle Adam, before coming to Malta, had, amongst other matters, ordered Fra Bernardo Salviati, the Order’s Prior in Rome, to beg Emperor Charles V to induce the Viceroy of Sicily to furnish the Knights with all things necessary for the striking of coins.22 Vatican records reveal that during the rule of Jean de Valette the Order’s mint was certainly situated in the Castle of St Angelo in Birgu, where the Knights had set up their headquarters on their arrival in Malta in 1530.23 There, mintage was at first carried out under the directorship of Michele Provost (or Prevost), and subsequently by his nephew Simon, son of the Flemish eminent painter Jan Provost.24
Shortly after 1573 the mint was transferred to the Magistral Palace in Valletta. In December 1755 most of the tools and machinery, then located in the Torre del Palazzo or Palace Tower (erected during the rule of Loubenx de Verdalle, were installed in a house (No. 3) in Strada San Sebastiano (later renamed Strada Zecca, now Mint Street) on the site of the first auberge built by the French knights in Valletta. In about 1788 the mint was relocated, this time to the Conservatoria (on the site of the present National Library of Malta in Valletta) where the cash and bullion of the Order were preserved.25
Though the Order began to issue its own coins in Malta, a strong link with the coinage of Sicily remained for some time and certain Sicilian silver coins then called aquile and ayculini continued to circulate freely until they were eventually superseded by the coinage of the Order. Furthermore, the monetary system was subsequently also adapted to that of Sicily. In fact, in 1609 the Venerable Council of the Order appointed a Commission to study the new regulations issued for the Sicilian mint at Messina and to ensure that coins struck in Malta would in future conform in weight and finesse to those of Sicily.26 From time to time, apart from Sicilian coins, a number of other foreign coins, including Dutch, German and Hungarian talers, Spanish doubloons and piastres, Venetian zecchini, livournine, genovine and louis d’or were also allowed to circulate with local coinage. The exchange rate of these foreign coins was regularly fixed by the Order’s Treasury.
In 1608 a large number of counterfeit Dutch and Hungarian talers turned up in circulation after having been found aboard Turkish vessels captured by the galleys of the Order. Of greater concern was the fact that these pieces bore the stamped countermarks of the emblem of the Grand Master.27
The Order in Malta often legislated in an effort to protect its currency from would-be falsifiers or counterfeits imported into Malta. Indeed, many foreign coins brought over to Malta by the galleys of the Order were usually assayed and hand-stamped with the emblem of the reigning Grand Master as a guarantee of their genuineness before being allowed to circulate. Talers or other foreign coins bearing the countermarks of Grand Masters Alof de Wignacourt, Antoine de Paule and Jean de la Cassiere are also known.28
Until the discovery of the first exemplar of a gold zecchino of Pietrino de Ponte (1534-35) it was held that coinage in Malta by the Order of St John commenced during the magistracy of Juan de Homedes (1536-53). This zecchino of del Ponte was found in a large hoard of about 2000 zecchini pieces of various Grand Masters. This treasure was found in 1865 during the demolition of a wall in a house belonging to the Confratenita’ della Carita’ in Valletta located in Strada Reale, now Republic Street, corner with St Nicholas Street.29
Only three exemplars of a del Ponte zecchino are known. The first is the one found in 1865 and donated by Professor Salvatore Pisani to the National Collection of Malta, a second specimen is in a private collection in the republic of San Marino and a third one was auctioned by Kunst und Munzen of Lugano in 1970.
Of particular historical interest in the coinage of Jean de Valette are his well designed silver six tari’. This particular coin, extant in the National Collection, was found in 1860 when repairs were being carried out on Porta Reale, now Bieb il-Belt.30 Apart from this silver six tari’, La Valette’s token fiduciary copper pieces are also historically interesting. Because of the critical financial difficulties following Malta’s Great Siege by the Turks against the Knights in 1565, and to have enough funds to pay the several thousand labourers engaged in the building of the new city of Valletta, the Order found it expedient to strike fiduciary copper coins in denominations equal to those of the silver currency. These were commonly called by the Maltese names patakka, nofs patakka, irbieghi tar-ram and karlin. The reverse side of these coins depicted clasped hands surrounded by the legend NON AES SED FIDES (Not Money But Trust). According to Giacomo Bosio, historian of the Order, Grand Master Jean de Valette promised to redeem these copper coins in ‘noble metal’31 and also fixed their rate of exchange at par not only with Maltese silver coins but also with Sicilian silver pieces. These coins continued to be accepted in Malta at par with the aforesaid coins and to maintain their value with the local silver coins until the death of Grand Master Antoine de Paule in 1636 and the election of his successor, Jean-Paul Lascaris Castellar.32
Fiduciary copper coins struck by various Grand Masters who ruled before Lascaris had until his election continued to circulate at par with both the local as well as Sicilian silver coins because the amount put in circulation until 1636 had remained more or less proportionate to the internal needs of the islands. However, the reissue by Lascaris of an excessive number amounting to 250,000 scudi worth of token money in 1636 completely unbalanced the rate of exchange between copper and silver, and although 150,000 worth were eventually withdrawn from circulation33 the islands remained flooded with a copper coinage discredited in Malta and abroad. Furthermore, these four and two tari’ copper pieces were extensively counterfeited. In spite of the fact that this illegal practice was punishable by a term of ten years’ service as galley convicts for those who could not pay the fine of 200 uncie, counterfeiting of these particular fiduciary pieces was carried out in Malta and Sicily. On various occasions these fiduciary token coins were temporarily called in by the mint and the genuine ones put back in circulation after being countermarked. The countermarks were quickly copied by professional forgers, and as a control measure against this abuse, many of the genuine 4 and 2 tari’ pieces were counterstamped with devices of different grand masters, the former by as much as eight times and the latter six times.34
Up to the election of Grand Master Jean-Paul Lascaris Castellar in 1636, the highest denomination in the gold coinage of the Order was the zecchino, whose design had never been changed since the rule of L’Isle Adam. In 1636 Lascaris struck a 2 zecchini piece on which is portrayed the melancholic and forbidding face of Lascaris, so well remembered for his stern character that the Maltese expression ‘wicc laskri’ is still used to describe the face of a haughty person. The two principal writers on the coinage of the Order, Canon Henry Calleja Schembri35 and Edoard Furse,36 held that this 2 zecchini was not a coin but a medal. However, whilst delving in the Archives of the Order preserved at the National Library of Malta, I traced a Bando or edict published on 1 December 1641 announcing the emission of a new coin, a 2 zecchini piece declared to be equal in weight and fineness to the Spanish dobla.37
The accession of Anton Manoel de Vilhena to the grand mastership in 1722 marked a new era in the numismatic history of the Order. In gold, pieces of 12, 10, 4, 2 and 1 zecchino were introduced. The artistic execution of the gold coinage of this period was never surpassed in Malta for its decorative beauty. On the 12 zecchini piece, the arms of Manoel (a lion rampant) are displayed in the second quarter, and those of Vilhena (a winged hand holding a sword) are shown on the third quarter. On the 10 zecchini piece, only the arms of Manoel appear on both the second and third quarter. The records of the Order’s Treasury during Vilhena’s rule reveal that the mint of the Order was kept very busy and that between 1722 and 1727 no less than 200,000 zecchini pieces were struck, but large quantities of these coins were exported by speculators as gold was rated at a higher value abroad than in Malta.38 To prevent this constant outflow of gold from the island no gold coins were struck by Vilhena’s successor Ramon Despuig.
Vilhena had during his rule also made a complete alteration in the silver currency by issuing new denominations of 8, 12 and 16 tari’ pieces as well as the beautifully executed two scudi pieces, but because the silver standard had also been raised it became just as profitable for speculators to export the Order’s silver coins.39
Grand Master Ramon Despuig, unable to find an effective remedy for the illegal exportation of the Order’s coinage, in March 1738 withdrew from circulation most of the coins of his predecessors and replace them with new coins of the same value and weight but of less silver content.40
Furthermore, in March 1739 Despuig arbitrarily raised the value of foreign gold coins while the value of the Maltese standard gold coin, the zecchino was left unaltered at the old rate of 4 scudi to 3 tari’. This gross mismanagement of the currency cost the flight of about 300,000 zecchini from Malta.41
On his election, Emanuel Pinto, who inherited the consequences of Despuig’s errors, was faced with a great shortage of coins. He quickly issued a substantial amount of zecchini pieces in gold and scudi pieces in silver but the former pieces because of their inferior finesse and poor workmanship, proved to be very unpopular. In an attempt to remedy the bad state of the currency and carry out a monetary reform, new denominations of 20, 10 and 5 scudi pieces were issued in 1756. Even though 30 and 15 tari’ pieces in silver were also introduced in the same year the Order was unable to find a remedy. In 1762 or 1763 the Order sought the competent advice of Zanobio Paoli, a former master of the mint in Florence. When Paoli arrived in Malta he found the mint in Valletta in a deplorable state and, in an elaborate report he recommended the augmentation of the finesse of the gold coinage and the issue of new silver denominations he also stressed that the fiduciary copper coins which had in the meantime become the dominant circulating medium should be gradually withdrawn.42
In 1777 the Treasury of the Order, in an endeavour to reorganize the mint and to stop it from operating at a loss, decided to adopt Paoli’s report in its entirety, especially with regard to the method of work and the various duties of those employed in that establishment.43
Some improvements in minting procedures must have been later carried out for the coins produced during the rule of Grand Masters Francisco Ximenes and Emmanuel de Rohan are far superior in design and much more exact in weight and finesse than those of Pinto. One special type of Rohan’s 20 scudi pieces dated 1778 was issued to commemorate the incorporation of the Order of St John with the Order of St Anthony of Vienne. The reverse design indeed shows the coat of arms of the Order of St John borne upon an imperial eagle with a Tau cross (emblem of the Order of St Anthony) in its beak. For some reason or other this coin was quickly withdrawn from circulation and the old design on the gold coins of Rohan was re-adopted.44
At the end of the Order’s rule in Malta the highest value silver coin was the so called pezza uncia d’argento or uqija. This denomination was first issued during the long reign of Grand Master Emmanuel Pinto. The lowest copper denomination in the Order’s currency was the picciolo or dinier struck for the last time between 1690 and 1697. The value of the picciolo was equivalent to about 1/72 of a British old penny, or about 0.006 of the Maltese cent. By the end of the Order’s rule the picciolo was replaced by the grano or habba worth 1/3 of a British Farthing equivalent to about 0.036 of the Maltese cent.
After the surrender of Malta to Napoleon in June 1798 and the departure of the Knights from the island, the French seized gold and silver items and precious stones from the Conventual Church of St John and State institutions. Some of the seized silver was converted into 30 and 15 tari’ coins bearing the bust of Ferdinand von Hompesch, the last Grand Master to rule over Malta. The 30 tari’ pieces struck during the French occupation can be distinguished from those issued during the rule of Hompesch as they show a dot or a pellet on their obverse, under the Grand Master’s bust or opposite his nose.45
Following the revolt of the Maltese against the French garrison in September 1798 the Monte di Pieta, a state-owned pawning institution was stripped of all gold and silver articles to finance the troops. During the subsequent blockade no minting could be continued due to the lack of certain materials at the mint. The confiscated gold and silver of the Monte were converted into ingots stamped with their intrinsic value and circulated as money.46.
With the advent of the British Protectorate in 1800, the Malta mint ceased to function and the machinery was taken to the Civil Arsenal also in Valletta. In 1828, after being polished and put in working order, it was sold to the Greek Government for £100 sterling.47
From the acquisition by England up to 1825, the nominal currency of Malta was exclusively the Scudo and its sub-divisions coined by the Order of St John between 1530 and 1798. In October 1825, as a preparatory measure to the general introduction of British metallic currency as the circulating medium in Malta, British silver and copper coins (the crown, half crown, shilling, sixpence in silver and the penny, half penny and farthing in copper) were established as legal tender at a nominal value, the pound sterling and its sub-divisions corresponding with the nominal Maltese currency, 20 pence the scudo, or 12 scudi the pound sterling.48 At the same time the value of the Spanish pillar dollar was fixed at 52 pence, or 4 shillings 4 pence.49. Furthermore it was also ordained that as from 25 December 1825 all government departments would begin to keep their accounts in sterling.50 However, for many years, the banks, the commercial community and the Maltese inhabitants did not change their mode of keeping their accounts in scudi, tari’ and grani.
British silver money coined in England after 1816 on the basis of 66 shillings instead of 62 shillings per Pound Troy remained unpopular in Malta for a long time after its introduction. Such a type of coin was then wholly unserviceable in operations with the countries of the Mediterranean where the preferred coins, such as the Spanish and Sicilian dollars had an approximate and corresponding value in proportion to their weight of fine silver.
In November 1825 Sicilian dollars were declared legal tender at 30 tari’, or at 4 shillings 2 pence to the dollar.51 British gold sovereigns and half sovereigns were introduced legally in the following year.52 British copper coins were declared the sole legal tender copper coins in Malta in November 1827,53 and in April of the following year all copper coins of the Order of St John ceased to be legal tender.54 To this effect a copper coin, called the British grain (one third farthing) was struck for exclusive use in Malta55 to replace the so-called Malta grain or grano. The smallest denomination until 1827 in the British currency was the farthing, worth three times as much as the grano. This meant that unless a smaller denomination equivalent to the grano was struck, the copper coins of the Order could not be withdrawn and replaced by British copper coins.
In 1833, because of the continually increasing scarcity in the market of Spanish pillar dollars, which were generally current in the colonies, the Imperial Treasury experienced difficulties in supplying Military Chests with funds when it was necessary to remit foreign currency. At that time, South American dollars, known on the London market as new dollars, were issued by the recently-formed South American States following their independence from Spain. These dollars were of the same value and presumed to be of the same weight and fineness as the coins struck at the mint of Mexico before the separation of that country from Spain. In 1834, after an assay of the South American dollars by the Royal Mint, the dollars struck in Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Rio de la Plata were declared legal currency in Malta at 4 shillings 4 pence sterling, or at 2 scudi 7 tari’ 4 grani, the same exchange rate of the Spanish dollar.56.
It later transpired that the South American dollars were the most imperfect of coins and it was next to impossible to have selected a more defective currency for use in Malta. They were most irregular in weight and fineness and to make matters even worse, they were rejected in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and the Two Sicilies. Their circulation was furthermore limited to Malta and the Ionian Islands.57 After many complaints by the local merchants and the banks about the large number of underweight dollars in circulation, in May 1838 the South American dollars of the Guadalaxara mint containing an undue proportion of alloy were withdrawn from circulation,58 and four months later the local government prohibited the circulation of small Sicilian and other foreign coins of less than half a dollar.59
A Proclamation (No. 1 of 18 July 1844) devalued the dollars of Spain, Mexico and other South American States from 4 shillings 4 pence to 4 shillings 2 pence and the rate of the Sicilian dollar to 4 shillings sterling. This reduction in the dollars to their intrinsic worth was, according to one of the leading merchants and the local newspapers, ‘a downright robbery committed by the government on their pocket, to the extent of the loss which they (the merchants) sustained by that measure’.60
By an Order of the Queen in Council of 13 August 1855 proclaimed in Malta on 4 October of the same year, all foreign coins were demonetized and British coins were declared the sole legal tender along with the remaining Maltese coins.61 Thus the British sovereign virtually became the sole legal tender coin for large payments and the British silver coins for all small payments to the extent of 40 shillings.
Despite the fact that the British Government demonetized all foreign coins, one of these, the Sicilian dollar, continued to dominate the circulating medium, especially because of its prominent role in import trade financing The Sicilian dollar was devalued by some 4.2 per cent by the Government in 1845.62 This devaluation, however, was not accepted by the commercial community on account of the heavy losses that would have been incurred. In spite of successive Orders fixing their official value at 4s., Sicilian dollars continued conventionally to be accepted at a value of 4s.2d. for a further three decades by virtue of an effective agreement between the banks and the merchants, which was renewed yearly.63
In 1872 the Government attempted to introduce a draft ordinance in the Council of Government64 as a forerunner to a scheme to do away with this Bourbon coin, but this draft ordinance was opposed in the Council of Government and had consequently to be withdrawn. Sicilian dollars were finally withdrawn between October 1885 and November 1886, following a decree by the Italian Government demonetizing the coins of the Pontifical State and those of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.65
After the withdrawal of the Sicilian dollars and the strict prohibition of any further importation of Sicilian currency,66, the local Government promulgated an Order of Her Majesty in Council in October 1886, whereby it was ordered and placed ‘beyond doubt’ that British coins should be the only legal currency of Malta.67. The remaining gold and silver coins of the of the Order of St John, valued at approximately £12,000, were thus demonetized by the local Government and withdrawn from circulation between October and November 1886.68
Maltese currency notes were introduced in August 1914 following the outbreak of World War I. These were intended as a temporary measure, but in 1949 currency notes were issued by a Currency Board and were backed by a Note Security Fund. In 1968 the Central Bank of Malta was set up and assumed responsibility for currency issuance, taking over the assets and liabilities of the Note Security Fund.
British coins remained legal tender until they were demonetized in stages during 1971/72. On 16 May 1972, Malta changed over a decimal currency and abandoned the old British system of pounds, shillings and pence. The Malta pound (renamed Maltese lira in 1983) was retained as the currency unit. This was divided into 100 cents and 1 cent into 10 mils. The first set of decimal coins issued in 1972 consisted of eight denominations. An octagonal 25c coin in brass was introduced in December 1975. A second Maltese decimal set of seven definitive coins in denominations, including the then newly struck Lm1 coin, was issued between May 1986 and November 1987. The common reverse of this set showed the emblem of the Republic of Malta established by Act. No. XXXIII of 1975. Besides these coins for general circulation, the Central Bank of Malta has since 1972, also issued a number of non-circulating legal tender coins for numismatic purposes.
In May 2004 Malta became a member of the European Union and a year later it joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) in preparation for the adoption of the euro, which is targeted for 1 January 2008 subject to the fulfilment of a number of conditions set by the European Commission regarding Malta’s nominal and real convergence to EU Benchmarks. Once the euro is adopted, it is planned that within three weeks the Maltese currency will cease to be legal tender and will be replaced by a currency which is readily acceptable worldwide and which is aiming to challenge the US dollar’s role as the major international reserve currency.
In the preparation of this paper on Maltese numismatics I am above all deeply grateful to the Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, Mr Michael C. Bonello, and his staff for giving me every assistance. Thank you.
1 E. Coleiro, ‘Maltese Coins of the Roman Period’, in Numismatic Chronicle, Seventh Series, xi, 1974, p. 67.
2 A. Mayr, ‘Die Antiken Munzen der Inseln Malta, Gozo und Pantelleria’, Munchen, 1895, pp. 8, 17.
3 C. F. Hill, ‘Coins of Ancient Sicily’, London, 1903, p. 288.
4 B. Head, ‘Historia Nummorum’, London 1911, p. 883.
5 C. T. Seltman, ‘The Ancient Coinage of Malta’, in Numismatic Chronicle, Sixth Series, vi, p. 2.
6 P. Guillaumier, ‘ANN Lend and Nummi on the Coins of Punic Malta’ in T. Cortis, T. Freller, L. Bugeja (eds), ‘Melitensium Amor’, Festschrift in honour of Dun Gwann Azzopardi, Malta, 2003, p. 3.
7 Seltman, ‘The Ancient Coinage of Malta’, p. 2.
8 Guillaumier, ‘ANN Legend and Nummi on the Coins of Malta’, pp. 12-13.
9 Coleiro ‘Maltese Coins of the Roman Period’, p. 78.
10 Coleiro, ‘Maltese Coins of the Roman Period’, p. 76.
11 D. P. Sear, ‘Roman Coins and their Values’, London 1974, p. 42.
12 A. Mini, ‘Monete di Bronzo della Sicilia Antica’, Palermo 1970, p. 16.
13 Coleiro, ‘Maltese Coins of the Roman Period’, p. 67.
14 Abela Ciantar, pp. 692-3.
15 Paper read by Professor Stanley Fiorini at the presentation of the Muslim coin at the Central Bank of Malta on 10 November 2010.
16 Paper read by Mr Darley Doran at the presentation of this coin on 10 November 2010.
17 Notarial Archives, Valletta, Malta, Contract of Notary Paolo Bonello, MS.588, f.12, 10 Sept. 1467.
18 S. Fiorini (ed.), ‘Documentary Sources of Maltese History’, Part II, Documents in the State Archives Palermo, No. 2 Cancelleria Regia 1400-1559, p. 73.
19 R. Valentini, ‘I Cavalieri di San Giovanni da Rodi a Malta, Trattative Diplomatiche’, in Archivum Melitense, ix, No. 4, pp. 137-237.
20 Mons. L’Abbé de Vertot, ‘The History of the Knights of Malta’, Edinburgh 1770, ii, p. 41.
21 Canon H. Calleja Schembri, ‘Coins and Medals of the Knights of Malta’, London 1908, 1910 (Reprinted London 1966), pp. 241-2.
22 Calleja Schembri, ‘Coins and Medals of the Knights of Malta’, p. 242.
23 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Urb. Lat.883, ff. 137-221), Relazione dell’Isola di Malta et Religione dal Primo Giugno fino al primo Dicembre anno 1568.
24 G. Bonello, ‘The Sculptor Simon Provost in Malta’ un ‘Art in Malta’, Discoveries and Recoveries’, Malta 1999, pp. 26-33.
25 V. Denaro, ‘The Mint of Malta’ in Numismatic Chronicle, Sixth Series xv, 1955, p. 174.
26 National Library of Malta, Archives of the Order of Malta, 103, f.87r-v.
27 V. Denaro, ‘Dutch Coins nd Maltese Countermarks’ in Numismatic Chronicle, Seventh Series, iii, 1963.
28 F. Restelli,/ J. C. Sammut, ‘The Coinage of the Knights in Malta’, ii, Plts. LXXXIX.
29 Pisani, ‘Medagliere di Malta e Gozo’, Dall’Epoca Fenicia All’Attuale Regnante S.M. La Regina Vittoria, Malta 1899, p. 3.
30 Ibid., p. 5.
31 Vertot, ‘The History of the Knights of Malta’, Edinburgh 1770, Book xiii, p. 43.
32 M. Sant, ‘Coinage Problems facing the Order of St John in Malta’. Unpublished Thesis, University of Malta 1967, pp. 105-6.
33 Denaro, ‘The Mint of Malta’, p. 175.
34 J. Sammut, ‘Lascaris and the Countermarked Copper 4 and Tari’ Pieces’. in Seaby’s ‘Coin and Medal Bullettin’, June 1964, pp. 205-7.
35 Calleja Schembri, ‘Coins and Medals of the Knights of Malta’, p. 202.
36 E. H. Furse, ‘Memoires Numismatiques de l’Ordre Souvn de Saint Jean de Jerusalem’. Illustrees avec les Medailles et Monnaies Frappees par les Grands Maitres de l’Ordre, Rome 1885 p. 336.
37 N. L. M., Liber Conciliorum 149, 72.
38 P. G. F. Furse, ‘Medagliere Gerosolimitano ossia Raccolta delle Medaglie e Monete Coniate dai Gran Maestri dell’Ordine Gerosolimitano in Rodi ed in Malta’, Malta 1864, p. 61.
39 P. G. F. Furse, ‘Medagliere Gerosolimitano’, p. 61.
40 Sant, ‘Coinage Problems facing the Order of St John in Malta’, p. 325.
41 Denaro, ‘The Mint of Malta’, p. 179.
42 Sant, ‘Coinage Problems facing the Order of St John in Malta’, pp. 281-3.
43 Sammut, ‘Currency in Malta’, p. 40.
44 J. Sammut, ‘The Mysterious Coin’ in ‘The Sunday Times of Malta’, 27 March 1988.
45 J. Sammut, ‘The Coinage of the Knights in Malta’, Malta 1977, i, p. 17.
46 V. Denaro, ‘The Malta Siege Ingots of 1799’ in Numismatic Circular, Spink & Son, Dec 1956, pp. 512-16.
47 J. C. Sammut, Currency in Malta’, pp. 60 and 117.
48 Malta Government Gazette, No. 743, 15 Jun 182, Proclamation XIV.
49 M. G. G., No. 763, 2 Nov 1825, Proclamation No XXI.
50 Ibid.
51 M. G. G., No. 766, 23 Nov 1825, Notice; A British Merchant, The Currency of Malta, Some Observations on the Currency of Malta and other British Possessions, Malta 1840.
52 M. G. G, No. 781, Mar.1836, Proclamation No II.
53 M. G. G., No. 873, 7 Nov 1827, Proclamation No XIV. Minute by His Excellency The Governor.
54 M. G. G, No. 873, 7 Nov 1827, Proclamation No XIV.
55 M. G. G, No. 873, 7 Nov 1827 Proclamation No XV.
56 M. G. G, No. 1219, 28 May 1834, Notice.
57 Sammut, ‘From Scudo to Sterling’, p. 66; for a detailed study on the circulation of South American dollars in Malta’ see J. C. Sammut, ‘Ewwieq Spanjoli u Sud Amerikani f’Malta Brittanika’; in ‘Melitensium Amor’, Festschrift in honour of Dun Gwann Azzopardi, Malta 2003, pp. 251-62.
58 M. G. G, No. 1327, 1 Jun 1836, Notice.
59 M. G. G, No. 1448, 5 Sept 1838, Notice.
60 M. G. G., No. 1580, 26 Jul 1844; Proclamation No I; G. D. N. Pappaffy, ‘The Merchants and The Currency of Malta’, Malta 1851, pp. 8-9.
61 M. G. G., No. 1850, 4 Oct 1855, Proclamation Nov 11, Chalmers 321.
62 J. Sammut, ‘Currency in Malta’, Malta 2001, p. 63. M. G. G., No. 873, 6 Nov. 1827.
63 Sammut, ‘From Scudo to Sterling, Malta 1992, pp. 110-11.
64 Sammut, ‘From Scudo to Sterling’, p. 116.
65 M. G. G, No. 3106, 20 Nov 1885, Notice.
66 M. G. G, No. 3108, 28 Nov. 1885, Proclamation No. XI.
67 M. G. G, No. 3128, 1 Apr 1886, Notice; M.G.G. No 3167, 20 Nov. 1886, Notice.
68 M. G. G, No. 3128, i Apr. 1886, Notice; M.G.G. No. 3167, 20 Nov. 1886, Notice.