1854) A 10 Shillings Banknote issued in 1968 by the Central Bank of Malta, from the First Series of Banknotes (1964-1971), since demonetised in 06/1972 on the introduction of the Maltese Lira:
After gaining independence from Britain in 1964, the Maltese Government established the Central Bank of Malta in 1967, which started operations in 1968. The Bank assumed responsibility for the issue and control of currency notes and coins.
At that time, Malta’s paper currency consisted of three different £1 and 10s Banknotes. The Bank decided to promote a unified pattern by issuing its own notes.
Thus, in 1968, the Central Bank of Malta issued its first £5 and 10s Banknotes, both printed at Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd.
The Banknotes had the same design as the 1961 and 1963 notes but the colour changed from blue to dark brown for the £5 note and from green to red for the 10s note.
A 10 Shilling Banknote issued in 1968:
This is a standard Banknote issued by the Central Bank of Malta in 1968.
On the Front of the 10 Shillings Banknote is seen a a left facing effigy of Queen Elizabeth II at right. In the centre is seen a George Cross.
The inscriptions are - 'CENTRAL BANK OF MALTA" and "This note is legal tender for TEN SHILLINGS in Malta and its Dependencies and is issued under the authority of the Central Bank of Malta Act, 1967."
On the Back of the 10 Shillings Banknote is seen an image of Mġarr harbour, Gozo.
About Mgarr Harbour:
Mġarr is a harbour town in south-eastern Gozo, Malta.The town of Mġarr grew up around the shallow harbour which shares its name.
Ferry services to Malta were in operation by 1241, and fishing was already established. While the area around the harbour was developed over the following centuries, there was little development of the harbour itself until 1841, when a breakwater was constructed to provide more shelter to the port.
This breakwater was strengthened and extended several times up to 1906. A larger breakwater was constructed between 1929 and 1935, and two more in 1969; on the completion of the latter, the area of the port was expanded to 121,400 square metres.
The ferry terminal was rebuilt at a cost of €9.3 million in the early 21st century. Work began in 2001 and took seven years, with the terminal opening in February 2008. The harbour now has facilities for around 600 passengers and 200 cars. The design of the new harbour was changed during the construction process to reduce its visual impact on the surrounding landscape
This Banknote was demonetised in 06/1972, when the Maltese Lira came into usage.
The shape of this Banknote is rectangular and its dimensions are - 134.00 mm x 70.00 mm; its colour is predominantly Red on a multicolour print.
Note: The Above Banknote is from the Collection of my friend Jayant Biswas, who has sent me the scans for this post.
A timeline of Maltese Banknotes:
The first known paper currency on the Maltese Islands were the promissory notes issued by both the Anglo-Maltese Bank and the Banco di Malta which, initially could not exceed the banks’ subscribed capital.
The promissory note denominations ranged from 5 scudi to 1000 scudi. The notes were watermarked, numbered, elaborately designed and even hand-signed by the high echelon of the banks.
In 1857 both the Banco di Malta and the Anglo-Maltese Bank stopped issuing notes in scudi and introduced sterling notes, initially in denominations of £1, £5, £30 and £50, and later also in £10, £20 and £100.
Notwithstanding this, the local business community kept using the Sicilian Dollar as a means of payment. Banknotes denominated in Sterling were also overprinted “payable in Sicilian Dollars”.
The Anglo-Egyptian Bank which had already opened a branch in Malta in 1881 also issued banknotes in Sterling. A steady flow of British currency and the acceptance of cheque payments led to the discontinuation of banknotes by 1903.
Ordinance No. VIII of 1914 Temporary Paper Currency:
The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 led to hoarding of silver coinage and the withdrawal of money from banks. A run on the banks was feared, for which reason the banks were closed for a period of two weeks.
In view of this, Ordinance No VIII of 1914 authorised the issuance of emergency paper money for the first time in Malta, which was printed to make good for shortage in coinage until an adequate supply could reach Malta from the UK.
The most urgent requirement was an issue of low denominations to provide for small payments then being made by the military and naval authorities to civilians. At the time the Army and Dockyard authorities had to pay the salaries and wages of Maltese personnel.
The government printed 32,000 five-shilling notes and 4,000 ten-shilling notes at the Government Printing Press. These notes were convertible at sight at the Treasury into gold in amounts not less than £1.
The first currency notes were launched on 15 August 1914 with denominations of five shillings, ten shillings, five pounds and ten pounds, with the £1 note issued 10 days later. The five-shilling and £1 note proved so popular that a second issue was made in September 1914.
In the meantime, over £440,000 in coins were shipped to Malta to replenish the coinage needs of the local population. The moratorium on the banks, which had been extended, terminated on 30 September 1914 when faith in the banks had been restored. The local paper currency was slowly demonetized by 30 September 1915.
Second World War (1940-1945):
At the outbreak of the Second World War, there was great concern about the lack of coins in circulation. Thus, the Paper Currency Ordinance 1939 was passed and included the issue of £1, 10s, 5s, 2s.6d, and 2s. The 2s.6d note was issued on 1 January 1940, with the other notes/denominations following shortly.
In May 1940 the German radio announced that England had withdrawn the pound sterling from Malta and replaced it with a Malta Pound not covered by a metal reserve. However, the British government put paid to all this hype by guaranteeing the full value in sterling of the Maltese currency notes.
Between 1940 and 1943 currency notes were imported from the UK with the signatures of the Malta Government Treasurers on them being first stamped on small hand-fed Platen and Wharfdale machines at the Government Printing Office in Valletta before being issued.
Then the printing moved to St Joseph Institute in Hamrun and later to the shelters at the Police Headquarters, then located in the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bugeja.
But as the demand was great, printing also took place at Progress Press in Valletta, at the Cisk Brewery in Hamrun and the John Bull Press in Birkirkara, and also at small private printing presses.
At the end of the Second World War, the small denomination notes became obsolete as the paper wore out too quickly, and within a few months were once more replaced by British coins.
Permanent Paper Currency: The Currency Notes Ordinance 1949:
The 1949 Ordinance was passed to ‘stamp’ a permanent existence on the issue of Maltese currency notes, which had always been a temporary measure to make up for the scarcity of coinage. A Currency Board was set up to oversee and control the issue of currency notes.
In 1951, the £1 and 10s denomination notes were issued, bearing the portrait of King George VI and a reproduction of the George Cross. The £1 note was brown and the 10s note was green.
In 1954, the notes were re-issued with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, to mark her visit to Malta. The notes were printed by Thomas De la Rue & Co Ltd, as had been the 1951 notes.
In 1961, £5 notes were issued to facilitate economic activity, while in 1963, new editions of the £1 and 10s notes were issued, all forming part of the ‘Pictorial Series’ bearing the portrait by Pietro Annigoni of Queen Elizabeth II.
The 1961 and 1963 notes were printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd.
Central Bank of Malta: First Series Currency Notes (1964-1971) - Pounds and Shillings:
After gaining independence from Britain in 1964, the Maltese Government established the Central Bank of Malta in 1967, which started operations in 1968. The Bank assumed responsibility for the issue and control of currency notes and coins.
At the time, Malta’s paper currency consisted of three different £1 and 10s notes. The Bank decided to promote a unified pattern by issuing its own notes.
In 1968, the Central Bank of Malta issued its first £5 and 10s notes, both printed at Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. The notes had the same design as the 1961 and 1963 notes but the colour changed from blue to dark brown for the £5 note and from green to red for the 10s note.
In 1969, when the old notes had been depleted, the Bank issued its first £1 note in olive green, but with the same design as the previous £1 of 1963.
All the previous notes printed by the Currency Board in 1951, 1961 and 1963, stopped being legal tender in Malta in December 1969.
Second Series of Banknotes- 1973-1975 (The Maltese Lira):
The introduction of the new decimal coinage in 1972 spurred the Central Bank of Malta to implement uniformity in note circulation. Thus the currency notes of 1s, 2s, 2s6d, and 5s, issued in the early 1940s to make up for the lack of coinage because of transportation problems during the Second World War, were demonetized by December 1971. Even the 10s notes issued by the Bank in 1968 were called in by June 1972.
On 15 January 1973, the Central Bank of Malta issued its second series of currency notes printed by Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd. The new notes included £M1 (green colour), £M5 (blue colour) and the £M10 (dark and light brown colour). The 10s note was replaced by a 50c coin during the same period.
The new Banknotes had enhanced security features, including a vertically running security thread and a phosphorous mark in the form of an eight-pointed cross. The Banknotes also contained a watermark showing an allegorical Head of Malta, designed by the Maltese artist Emvin Cremona.
Currency notes always bore a series of combinations of signatures of top persons at the Central Bank. However, in 1975, a new issue of £m10 notes bore only the signature of the then Deputy Governor of the Bank.
Third Series of Banknotes (1979-1983) The Maltese Lira:
In March 1979, the Central Bank of Malta embarked on its third series of currency issue, keeping the same £m1, £m5, and £m10 denominations as in the previous 1973 and 1975 issues. This issue, which commemorated Malta’s new status of neutrality and the termination of military facilities for foreign powers in 1979, included the new circular emblem of Malta, which had replaced the armorial bearings in 1975.
The £m1 note, in brown and grey, had a map of the Maltese Islands and an inscription "GĦALL ĠID TAL-MALTIN ĠIEĦ IR-REPUBBLIKA," but the most prominent feature on this note was the gardjola.
The £m5 note had various shades of violet portraying a statue symbolizing culture by Antonio Sciortino. The £m10 note was grey and pink and showed a statue symbolizing justice.
In 1981, the Bank withdrew from circulation the £5 note issued in 1968 and the £1 note issued in 1969 while the green £m1 note of 1973 was called in 1982, followed by the £m5 note, which stopped being legal tender in 1983.
In 1982, the Central Bank of Malta issued currency notes with special features to help the blind distinguish authenticity and one denomination from another. The £m10 note had three 5mm dots embossed above the emblem of the Republic of Malta on the obverse, the £m5 note had two dots while the £m1 had one dot.
Fourth Series of Banknotes (1986-1988) Maltese Lira:
In 1986, the Central Bank of Malta issued the fourth series of currency notes, which included denominations of Lm2, Lm5, Lm10 and Lm20, of which the Lm2 and Lm20 note were new denominations. The Lm1 note was not re-issued at this time as it was set to be replaced by the Lm1 coin.
The notes, printed by Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd, portrayed the President of the Republic at the time, and for the first time, featured the word ‘Lira’ on its own without its accompanying English version, the Pound. In fact, the £ was no longer used and the capital letter ‘L’ was introduced instead. Following an amendment by Act XIII of 1983, the unit of currency in Malta became legally known as the Lira Maltija, with its corresponding symbol, Lm.
In March 1988, an amendment to the Central Bank of Malta Act was passed through which the designs on currency notes issued by the Bank could not portray any person who was still alive at the time.
Fifth Series of Banknotes (1989-1993) - The Maltese Lira:
In September 1989, the Central Bank of Malta issued the fifth series of currency notes, coinciding with the 25th Anniversary of Malta’s Independence. The denominations of Lm2, Lm5, Lm10 and Lm20 were similar in size to the fourth series. The front of each note showed the allegorical figure of Malta, as well as the emblem of the United Nations and doves, reflecting Malta’s commitment to international peace.
The notes also contained the armorial bearings of the Central Bank of Malta, going away from the concept of Malta’s emblem, which had been changed again in 1988.
In contrast to previous trends, the Lm20 never really took off and its circulation started declining after 1991. In fact the 1986 Lm20 note was demonetized in 1992 and the £m1 in 1993.
In 1994, 1997, 1999 and 2001, various enhanced versions of all denominations of the fifth series were issued.
Maltese banknotes were replaced by the Euro when Malta became a member of the Euro Area and adopted the Euro as its currency on 01.01.2008.
Subsequently, the Maltese currency remained legal tender until 31 January 2008. However, Maltese banknotes could still be exchanged for Euro at the Central Bank of Malta for up to ten years after being demonetised, that is, till 31 January 2018.
The Euro Banknotes (2008 onwards):
Malta became an EU member in 2004 and adopted the Euro currency as its legal tender on 1 January 2008.
There are seven Euro banknotes: the €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200, and €500. All the Euro banknotes have common designs on the theme “Ages and Styles of Europe”.
Each banknote has a different size, the higher the value, the bigger the banknote. The banknotes also have striking colours, with close denominations having clearly contrasting colours: the €5 is grey while the €10 is red, the €20 is blue while the €50 is orange, and the €100 is green. The €200 is yellow-brown and the €500 is purple. Thus, these differences make them easily identifiable. The values are printed in large numerals and in a special printing method called “intaglio”, which means carved or cut out.
8) Ta' Hagrat Temples, Malta: "Maltese Pre-historic Temples Coin Series" depicting UNESCO World Heritage List featured Megalithic Temple Complexes in Malta: Fourth Coin in the Series: Date of issue: 22.07.2019
9) "Suez Canal": Central Bank of Malta issues a 150th Anniversary Silver commemorative Coin of 10 Euros (1869-2019), minted by the Royal Dutch Mint: Coin issue date: 18.11.2019
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