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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;chrisild, post: 1648963, member: 39&quot;]I&#039;m pretty sure it&#039;s the second option - with the grasshoppers (especially the swarms of locusts) being a major problem for farmers. Depicting the two at roughly the same size is ... interesting. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Note that the coin was not issued by (the country of) Malta but by the SMOM (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta" rel="nofollow">Order of Malta</a>). That order lost pretty much all its territory in the late 18th century but is still considered sovereign. Except that the country is now limited to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Malta" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Malta" rel="nofollow">Palazzo di Malta</a> in Rome. Now you may say that such a &quot;country&quot; does not need any coins. Agreed. But do countries or territories such as Niue, Cook Islands or Palau need all the collector coins they issue? <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Just consider the SMOM pieces to be fundraisers, sort of ...</p><p><br /></p><p>(Side note: There are quite a few more or less shady organizations that use similar names, and sell &quot;coins&quot;. Caveat emptor.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Christian[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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