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French Rule, 1798-1800
When Napoleon landed in Malta,
he seized whatever gold, silver and precious stones he could
find in the Co-Cathedral of the Knights (the Church of St
John) in Valletta and various other churches and institutions
elsewhere in the Island. Some of the silver found was melted
down at the Malta Mint and struck into 30 and 15 Tari pieces
depicting the bust and arms of Hompesch, the last Grand Master
of the Order to govern in Malta.
In September 1798 the Maltese revolted
against the French. All the gold and silver of the Monte
di Pieta’, a state-owned pawning institution, was seized
by the French and later used to finance the troops and inhabitants
during the blockade of Valletta by the Maltese insurgents.
As no coins could be minted owing to the lack of certain
materials, the French struck ingots made of gold and silver
during the blockade of the French garrison in Valletta. These
ingots circulated for a time as money. On one side of the
ingots were stamped the arms of the city of Valletta and
on the obverse the value in Scudi, Tari and Grani.
Malti
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