The use of coins in Malta goes back to between the sixth and third centuries B.C. when Malta, then under Carthage, used bronze coins made in Sicily and Carthage.

Coinage changed along with whoever ruled over Malta and several examples have been found of coins going back to the Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Norman periods and the subsequent rulers such as the Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese and Castellians, with some of the coins thought to have been minted in Malta.

The Knights of Malta established their own mint at Vittoriosa and this was later moved the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta and then to St Sebastian Street in Valletta, now appropriately known as Old Mint Street. The Malta coin known as the Habba traces its origins to this period. The mint was then moved to the Library building. Napoleon's French troops used it to melt down silver from Malta's churches to turn to currency, sparking the uprising against them.

With the advent of the British the mint was closed and the equipment sold in Greece. Malta started using coins made at the Royal Mint.

Malta adopted the decimal system in 1972, with the first coins minted at the Royal Mint in the UK. This was the first coinage issued by Malta as an independent nation

The Central Bank of Malta issued its first gold and silver coin set in November 1972 in conjunction with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The Order provided the Central Bank with two new minting machines and a new Malta Mint was inaugurated in December 1973 and remained in operation until 1995, producing the current circulation coins.

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