The scudo is the official currency of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and was the currency of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 during the rule of the Order over Malta, which ended in 1798. It is subdivided into 12 tari (singular taro), each of 20 grani with 6 piccioli to the grano. It is pegged to the euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 (at a rate of 1:3/-)

History

The scudo was issued until 1798 but circulated on the island of Malta until replaced by the Maltese pound in 1825, at a rate of 1 pound = 12 scudi. The Order of Malta (now based in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

) has issued souvenir coins denominated in grani, tari and scudi since 1961, although few countries currently recognise these as legal tender

Legal tender

Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....

.

The present-day Republic of Malta moved to a decimal currency in 1972, the Maltese lira

Maltese lira

The lira was the currency of Malta from 1972 until 31 December 2007. The lira was abbreviated as Lm, although the traditional ₤ sign was often used locally...

. In 2008 Malta adopted the euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

.

Coins

Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 2½, 5 and 10 grani, 1, 2, 4 and 6 tari, 1, 1¼, 1⅓, 2, 2½, 5, 10 and 20 scudi. The 1, 2½, 5 and 10 grani and 1 taro were minted in copper, with the 2½ grani denominated as 15 piccioli. The 2, 4 and 6 tari, 1, 1¼, 1⅓, 2 and 2½ scudi were silver coins, with the 1¼, 1⅓ and 2½ scudi denominated as 15, 16 and 30 tari. The 5, 10, 20 scudi coins were gold.

Coins minted today include bronze 10 grani, silver 9 tari, 1 and 2 scudi and gold 5 and 10 scudi http://www.orderofmalta.org/site//numismatica.asp?idlingua=5