Catalog
1 Shilling
| Issuer | Government of Malta |
|---|---|
| Year | 1943 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Shilling (1/20) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A central oval vignette contains a portrait of King George VI in military uniform, framed by an intricate guilloche underprint executed in green and violet tones. The denomination ONE SHILLING is rendered in large letterpress text flanking the vignette on both sides, with serial numbers appearing at the upper right and lower left. A manuscript signature is present at the lower right, below the central portrait. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is intentionally left unprinted, with faint ghosting of the obverse design visible through the paper stock. |
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| Comments |
Malta's wartime shilling notes were authorized under the Currency Notes Ordinance and issued while the island was under sustained Axis bombardment — the George Cross was awarded to Malta collectively in April 1942, the year before this note entered circulation. Printing by Bradbury Wilkinson in London and shipping to an actively besieged island was a logistical exercise in itself.
The 1943 series replaced earlier emergency issues and was intended to ease the severe coin shortage that rationing and disrupted supply lines had created. Small-denomination notes of this type typically suffered hard circulation and high attrition rates; genuine uncirculated examples from this series are uncommon precisely because the economic conditions that demanded them also destroyed them.