History of Maltese Lira
"The coins of Sicily circulated in Malta during Medieval times and into the Renaissance. When the Knights of Malta arrived, they adapted the Sicilian system so that 1 Scudo = 12 tari = 240 grani with the zecchino (equal to 4 scudi 3 tari) being the most prominent coin since it was based on the Venetian ducat.

During the first fifty years of British rule, the legal circulating coinage included the coins of the Knights, Spanish Doubloons and dollars, Sicilian Dollars, South American Dollars, French 5 Franc pieces and English coins. Other foreign coins, though not legally current, also circulated in Malta; these consisted mainly of French Louis d'Or and Maria Theresa Dollars.

In October 1855, a Proclamation declared Sterling to be the sole legal tender currency in Malta. In spite of this, however, the business and banking community continued to make use of gold and silver coins of the Order as well as certain foreign coins, particularly the Sicilian Dollar. These non-sterling coins were removed from local circulation during the period October 1885-November 1886 following a decree by the Italian Government withdrawing the coins of the Pontifical State and those of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. These developments left British coins as the only legal tender coinage on the Island. They remained so until the early 1970s when the Island's coinage system was radically changed.

The first banknotes of Malta were issued by the Banco Anglo-Maltese and by the Banco di Malta. These banknotes were not accepted by Government Departments and were issued more for the conveniency of the Commercial body. In 1855, when sterling was declared the sole legal tender in Malta, banks stopped issuing notes in scudi and introduced notes in pounds sterling. Between 1873 and 1875 these notes were overprinted 'Payable in Sicilian Dollars', reflecting the wide-spread popularity of the Sicilian dollar, notwithstanding the 1857 proclamation.

The first official Maltese Currency Notes were issued on August 1914, prompted by reasons of expediency and precaution. Between 7 May and 30 September 1915, these notes were demonetised and replaced by British notes. British Pound Sterling (GBP) treasury notes were made legal tender on June 16, 1915. Pound Sterling notes continued to be legal tender in Malta until July 1949 when the government introduced a currency board which remained in place until 1965. The government of Malta began issuing its own currency in 1914, and in April 17, 1968 the Central Bank of Malta took over responsibility for issuing currency in Malta."


Central Bank Website

Source: www.globalfinancialdata.com/index.php3?action=showghoc&country_name=Malta