Maltese scudo

Maltese scudo
Scudo maltese (Italian) Skud Malti (Maltese)
30 tarì coin of Grandmaster Hompesch minted during the French occupation of Malta in 1798
Denominations
Subunit
1/12	Tarì
1/240	grano
1/1440	piccolo
Coins	15 piccoli 1, 5, 10 grani 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 30 tari 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 scudi
Demographics
User(s)	Sovereign Military Order of Malta Previously: Malta (1530-1825)
Valuation
Pegged by	Euro

The scudo (plural scudi) is the official currency of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and was the currency of Malta during the rule of the Order over Malta, which ended in 1798. It is subdivided into 12 tarì, each of 20 grani with 6 piccioli to the grano. It is pegged to the euro (at a rate of 1 scudo : €0.24).

The scudo was first minted in Rhodes in 1318. By 1500 the coins had the distinctive characteristics of a cross and the Order's and Grandmaster's coat of arms on one side, and the head of St. John the Baptist on the other. The scudo was first minted in Malta during the reign of Piero de Ponte. The quality of the coins improved especially during the reign of António Manoel de Vilhena in the early 18th century. At some points in time, foreign coinage was allowed to circulate in Malta alongside the scudo. These included Spanish dollars, Venetian lire, Louis d'or and other currencies.

During the French occupation of Malta in 1798, the French authorities melted down some of the silver from the island's churches and struck them into 15 and 30 tari coins from the 1798 dies of Grandmaster Hompesch. After the Maltese rebellion, gold and silver ingots were stamped with a face value in grani, tari and scudi and they briefly circulated as coinage in Valletta and the surrounding area.

The scudo continued to circulate on the island of Malta, which had become a British colony, along with some other currencies until they were all replaced by the pound in 1825, at a rate of 1 pound = 12 scudi using British coinage. Despite this some scudi remained in use and the last coins were withdrawn from circulation and demonetized in November 1886. 1 scudo in 1886 had the spending power equivalent to £3.82 or €4.35 in 2011. The present-day Republic of Malta adopted the decimal Maltese lira in 1972, and the euro in 2008.