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On September 18, 1989 the Central Bank
of Malta issued the Fifth Series of currency notes, consisting
of four denominations:
Lm2, Lm5, Lm10 and Lm20.
The obverse is common to all the
four notes. The central theme is a figure of a woman holding
a rudder, symbolising
Malta
in control of her own destiny. Other features are three doves
symbolising peace, the United Nations Emblem, the Central Bank
of Malta Coat-of-Arms, and mosaic designs from the period of
Roman presence in Malta.
Maltese banknotes were replaced
by euro when Malta became a member of the euro area
and adopted the euro
as its currency on 1 January 2008. Subsequently, the Maltese
currency remained legal tender until 31 January 2008. However
Maltese banknotes can still be exchanged for euro at the Central
Bank of Malta for up to ten years after being demonetised,
that is, till 31 January 2018.
Security Features
The notes incorporate most of the security features available
at the time. They contain various computerised Guilloche patterns
and rainbow litho printing, the lithographic background printing
and the typographic printing of the numbers. The watermark
depicts
an ‘allegorical’ head which can be seen on the left
hand side of the note when viewed from the front.
The security thread is incorporated into the
paper at the manufacturing stage. It appears as a solid line
running down the note and is visible on the right hand side
when viewed from the front.
On the front of the notes, on the
left hand
side three scroll shapes can be observed which have been printed
in silver ink, and which give a metallic lustre to this image
which both enhances its appearance and presents problems of
reproduction.
When the notes are viewed obliquely, the letters ‘BCM’ incorporated
on the front of the note at the bottom left hand corner, become
visible and additionally, when
the banknotes are held up to the light, the body of the doves
printed on the back fit exactly within the outline of the doves
on the front.
On 1 June 1994, the Central Bank of Malta
issued amended designs of this Fifth Series. Although the main
design of the notes remained unchanged, the following security
features were introduced:
1. |
The new security thread appears as silver
dashes on the front of the note. |
2. |
The silver metallic printing was extended in some
areas. |
3. |
Additional see-through features were incorporated
and new background colours and patterns used in these
areas. |
4. |
A new style serial number appears in the top left
position. |
5. |
On the Lm10 and Lm20 banknotes, in the bottom right
hand side on the back of the notes, the colour of the
ink changes when the note is viewed from different angles. |
Lm2 Banknote
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