The euro. Notes and coins.

1 January 2008 marks Malta’s targeted adoption date of the euro currency. On this date, and thereafter, the euro will cease to be considered a foreign currency and will become our legal tender. A brief ‘dual circulation’ period after euro adoption will ensure that the old currency (the Maltese Lira and coins) will be withdrawn from circulation and instead, euro notes and coins will be used for our everyday transactions. 

By the time Malta joins the Eurozone area (i.e. term used to refer to the group of European countries where the euro is used as a national currency), Malta would become the fourteenth country to introduce the euro as its national currency. Cyprus is also earmarked to join the Eurozone on the same date as Malta. 

Malta will therefore have the same currency as that of Germany, France or Italy. This is one of the advantages of joining the European Union, and the Eurozone area. As Maltese citizens, we can travel around most of Europe without actually changing our currency, hence benefiting from greater flexibility and lower costs.  

Euro Notes

With the present system, the euro currency includes 4 notes ( € 20,  € 10, € 5 and € 2 notes), and 7 coins (€ 1, 50c, 25c, 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c). Once the euro is introduced as our local currency, we will have 7 different notes and 8 coins. 

Euro coins

Eight different coins make up the euro-coin collection. The coins are divided into three different sets, each with its own features. Countries within the Eurozone area are entitled to customise the back-side of the coin itself with their own motifs. The front side of the coins is similar in each country where the euro is introduced as a national currency. The Maltese public had the opportunity to choose the motifs that will be featured on the Maltese euro-coins.