The public is being invited to vote for the final three designs that will be chosen for the national side of Malta’s euro coin set, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Tonio Fenech said yesterday.
The public will be choosing three out of the four designs that made it to the “final”. Three of the designs – the Statute of the Baptism of Christ, Malta’s Coat of Arms and the Mnajdra Temple Altar – were chosen from the 12 themes presented to the public. The fourth design, that of the Maltese eight-pointed Cross, was also considered after it received the highest number of votes from the public as an alternative to the 12 themes presented in the consultation process.
The designer for the coins is Noel Galea Bason who has presented the designs that are being reproduced here with the public having up till 9 June to make its selection. Mr Fenech explained that up to three blank SMSs can be sent from each mobile number to the number assigned to each coin design and only one SMS per coin design will be considered valid.
He urged the public to participate again in the selection process as the first consultation had yielded over 17,000 votes, which he said was quite encouraging. Participants in the consultation process will be taking part in a prize draw to win one of 20 Air Malta tickets to any of its destinations or a number of mobile phones offered by Go Mobile. People who vote up to 1 June will be eligible to win one of 20 tickets for Sting concert to be held on 6 June. Each SMS costs two cents.
Mr Fenech explained that as in the case of several other EU member states, the Maltese euro coins will have three different designs: one for the one and two euro coins, one for the 50, 20 and 10 cent coins and one for the five, two and one cent coins.
Mr Fenech, who is also the chairman of the Steering Committee for the adoption of the euro, said: “The government feels the people of Malta should participate in this process. This is a unique moment and we owe it to the people to have the final say in this historic process.” The Parliamentary Secretary also said that the Central Bank of Malta has already initiated the tendering process for the minting of the coins. Minting cannot, however, start before the green light for entry into the eurozone is given by the Commission. This could happen around June 2007.
“In a sense, we have an opportunity to brand Malta through our euro coin set since the images on the coins will circulate in other European Union Member States and beyond,” Mr Fenech said.
Replying to questions, Central Bank Governor Michael Bonello said that it was still early days to quantify the amount of money that was going to be required to finance the whole changeover operation. However he indicated that around 12 minting presses had expressed an interest in the job.
Mr Joseph F. X. Zahra, chairman of the National Euro Changeover Committee, also addressed the media.
Mr Fenech said that around 206 million coins need to be minted within a three-month period, which value will exceed e58 million. A video that will be appearing on local TV stations will be aired to inform the general public on the consultation process.
Further information on the national consultation process can be obtained from the websites of the Central Bank of Malta: www.centralbankmalta.com or the NECC website: www.euro.gov.mt. The public will also be informed through an information campaign for the duration of the consultation period.