Maltese lira

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The Maltese Lira (Maltese: Lira Maltija, Lm., £, ISO code: MTL) was the currency of Malta from 1825 until 31 December 2007. A lira was divided into 100 cents or 1000 mils (1 mil = 1/10 cents), with the use of mils (abbreviation: m) already becoming unusual in the 1980s. On 1 January 2008, the lira was replaced by the euro. The lira was the successor of the Maltese pound, as the lira is still sometimes called today.

Coins were available at 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents, as well as 1 lira and banknotes at 2, 5, 10 and 20 lira. By 1981, 2-, 3- and 5-mils pieces were minted.

Adoption of the euro
Malta joined the EU on 1 May 2004. On 29 April 2005, Latvia and Cyprus joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism II. In the course of ERM II accession, the lira was pegged exclusively to the euro on 29 April 2005.

On 27 February 2007, Malta officially submitted the application for inclusion in EMU. On 16 May 2007, the European Commission declared itself in favour of Malta and Cyprus joining the euro area. On 5 June, the Finance Ministers unanimously voted for Malta's accession to EMU. On 10 July 2007, the EU finance ministers set the exchange rate at 1 euro to 0.429300 lira. On 1 January 2008, Malta officially adopted the euro. Until 30 September 2008, it was customary in Malta to show the old prices in Lm in addition to the euro prices.

Banknotes
Before the introduction of the euro, there were notes worth 2, 5, 10 and 20 liri.

Weblinks

Historical banknotes of Malta

Individual evidence

Historic Monetary Unit (Europe)
Lira