Know what I do instead of doodling in my spare time? I like to find the coin innovations of a country when changes are made to its coins because of soveriegnty (ruler, occupier), economic pressures, declarations of independence, political (Soviet, German), decimalization, and Euro membership. For instance, I thought it might be interesting to compare a new Euro member's pre-Euro coins to its Euro issues. Since Malta issued its first Euro coins in 2008, I thought it might be interesting to compare its two coinages. I will introduce Malta's coins in order of lowest to highest. All photos in this post are courtesy of Don's World Coin Gallery. The pre-Euro Cent was minted from 1991 through 2007. It is a copper-zinc coin measuring 18.53mm and features a crowned shield within sprigs on its obverse. A common weasel adorns the reverse. http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coine.php?image=img2/117-93&desc=Malta%20km93%201%20Cent%20(1991%2B)&query=Malta%20km%2093 The Eurocent has the common Euro design on the reverse, but features the Neolithic Mnadra Temple on the obverse: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...a km125 1 Euro Cent (2008)&query=Malta km 125 Malta's pre-Euro 17.8mm copper-zinc 2 Cent also carries the crowned shield within sprigs on its obverse, but features an olive branch on its reverse: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...=Malta km94 2 Cents (1991+)&query=Malta km 94 Malta's 2 Eurocent has the same designs as the 1 Eurocent:. Only change is the denomination: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri... km126 2 Euro Cents (2008)&query=Malta km 126 Malta's pre-Euro 5 Cent is an octagon shaped 20mm copper-nickel coin bearing the same crowned shield within sprigs as the 1 Cent coin on its obverse, but presents a fresh water crab with all legs extended on its reverse. http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...=Malta km95 5 Cents (1991+)&query=Malta km 95 The 5 Eurocent has the same features as the 1 Eurocent and 2 Eurocent: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri... km127 5 Euro Cents (2008)&query=Malta km 127 Malta's pre-Euro 10 Cents is a Copper-nickel 22mm coin bearing the crowned shield within sprigs just like Malta's pre-Euro 1,2,5 and10 Cent coins, but sports a dolphin fish on the reverse: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...Malta km96 10 Cents (1991+)&query=Malta km 96 The 10 Euro Cents features the Malta Coat of Arms on its obverse and the common Euro design on the reverse: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...km128 10 Euro Cents (2008)&query=Malta km 128 Malta issued a preEuro copper-nickel 25mm 25 Cent coin bearing the crowned shield within sprigs on the obverse and a ghirlanda flower in bloom on its reverse: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...Malta km97 25 Cents (1991+)&query=Malta km 97 Its 2008 equivalent Euro Coin is not a 25 Cent coin but a 20 Eurocent coin with the same designs on both sides as the 10 Eurocent coin: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...km129 20 Euro Cents (2008)&query=Malta km 129 Malta's 50 Cent coin is a 26.9mm copper-nickel coin, with an obverse bearing the regular crowned shild within sprigs as the previous pre-Euro issues. Its reverse design is of a blooming tuliera plant: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...Malta km98 50 Cents (1991+)&query=Malta km 98 Malta's 50 Eurocents coin has the same designs obverse and reverse ast the 10 and 20 Eurocents: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...km130 50 Euro Cents (2008)&query=Malta km 130 Malta's next coin is a 30mm nickel coin w/crowned shield in sprigs on obverse and a merril bird on its reverse: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...c=Malta km99 1 Lira (1991+)&query=Malta km 99 Malta's 1 Euro coin has the common Euro design on the reverse, but its obverse features a Maltese Cross: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...=Malta km131 1 Euro (2008)&query=Malta km 131 Wasn't that better than doodling in your spare time? Clinker
LOL I preferd the old currency of Malta it had some nice designs on it and I can also say that a great many of the inhabitants of the Island did not want the euro Nice bit of work Clinker :hail:
Right, the old coins had a greater variety of designs. Unfortunately the Maltese government decided to have only three different designs on the euro coins. People could then opt (phone/SMS vote) for their preferred designs. As for whether they wanted the euro or not, I have no idea how many were actually against the introduction. Oh well, they could simply have stayed out of the EU. The coins were minted in Pessac, FR (2008) and Utrecht, NL (2009) by the way. Nice post, Clinker! By the way, one Maltese lira is about 2.30 euro. So the current €2 coin from Malta (same design as the €1 piece) has very roughly the same value as the old Lm1 coin ... Christian
Hi sunflower and thanks for reading and making your first comment on one of my posts...:high5: Clinker
