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1 Lira / 2 Ecu 430 Years of Defence of Christianity
| Issuer | Central Bank of Malta |
|---|---|
| Year | 1993 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | The Maltese national coat of arms is displayed at centre, depicting a quartered shield bearing the George Cross on the dexter half and vertical lines (representing the colour red) on the sinister half, surmounted by a mural crown and flanked by two olive branches tied at the base with a ribbon inscribed 'REPUBBLIKA TA MALTA'. The country name MALTA arcs along the upper legend in large letters, and the date 1993 appears in the lower field. |
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| Reverse description | A detailed naval battle scene occupies the central field within an inner circle, depicting two large square-rigged sailing warships engaging a galley in close combat on choppy seas, evoking the 16th-century maritime conflicts fought by the Knights of Malta against Ottoman forces. The circumferential legend around the outer border reads '430 YEARS IN DEFENCE OF CHRISTIAN EUROPE', and the dual denomination 'Lm 1 . ecu 2' is inscribed in the lower exergue. |
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This piece commemorates the 1565 Great Siege of Malta, during which an Ottoman force estimated at 40,000 men failed to dislodge a Knights Hospitaller garrison of roughly 700 knights and perhaps 8,000 Maltese soldiers and auxiliaries. The siege lasted from May through September; when relief finally arrived, fewer than 600 defenders remained capable of bearing arms. The Ottoman failure is widely credited with halting westward expansion into the central Mediterranean.
The 430-year anniversary framing places the issue precisely in 1993, forty-eight years after Malta's own George Cross citation in World War II — a detail the Central Bank's commemorative program was not shy about invoking thematically across issues of this period.