Malta's "Knights of the Past" issue belongs to a collector series revisiting the island's time under the Order of St. John, which held Malta from 1530 until Napoleon's largely bloodless seizure in 1798. The Order transformed the island from a near-depopulated strategic outpost into a fortified city-state, funding construction that still defines Valletta's skyline. That 268-year tenure left an administrative and architectural imprint deeper than almost any comparably brief European occupation.
The Central Bank issued this in .999 fine silver — fractionally purer than the more common .925 standard — a specification increasingly favored for Maltese collector issues from this period.
Malta's "Knights of the Past" issue belongs to a collector series revisiting the island's time under the Order of St. John, which held Malta from 1530 until Napoleon's largely bloodless seizure in 1798. The Order transformed the island from a near-depopulated strategic outpost into a fortified city-state, funding construction that still defines Valletta's skyline. That 268-year tenure left an administrative and architectural imprint deeper than almost any comparably brief European occupation.
The Central Bank issued this in .999 fine silver — fractionally purer than the more common .925 standard — a specification increasingly favored for Maltese collector issues from this period.