2020-10-28 Wed

The scudo was the official currency of Malta. During Piero de Ponte’s reign, scudo was first minted in Malta. In the early 18th century, Antonio Manoel de Vilhena improved the quality of the coins.

For a while, foreign coinage such as Spanish dollars, Venetian lire, Louis d'or and other currencies was in circulation along with scudo. During French rule, some of the silver coins were melted and stuck them into 15 and 30 tarì coins from 1798.

During British rule, scudo was replaced by pounds under which one pound was equal to 12 scudi. Currently, Malta has adopted the decimal Maltese lira in 1972 and the euro in 2008.

Presently, 10 grand in bronze, 9 Tari, 1 and 2 scudi in silver and 5 and 10 scudi in gold is minted. A gold coin of Antonio Manoel de Vilhena minted in 1725 was sold for 3, 40,000 US dollar in 2011. Herewith, the image is of 30 Tari coin of Grandmaster Hompesch minted during the French occupation of Malta in 1798.

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia.com