Delegates who were in Malta last week attending the annual conference of the European Association of Banking History (EABH) were treated to 200 years of Maltese banking history when they visited the BOV Museum now relocated at St John’s Square in Valletta.

Malta was the venue for the 17th edition of the conference, which discussed the theme, Banking and Finance in the Mediterranean: A Historical Perspective.

The delegates were welcomed by the BOV Museum curators, Victor Tortell and David Brinkworth.

Mr Tortell said “Bank of Valletta prides itself in being the financial institution with the longest history and deepest roots in Malta. As such the visit to our Museum of Banking fits perfectly with the bank’s involvement, as one of the sponsors of the European Association of Banking History conference.”

The artefacts exhibited at the Bank of Valletta Museum speak of a time when scudi, tari and grani were the legal tender on the islands. Artefacts displayed trace the banking history of Malta since the days of the first merchant banks established in 1809, through to the establishment of Bank of Valletta in 1974 and the various firsts in Malta, such as the first automated teller machines and the introduction of internet banking on the islands. Among the items admired by the EABH delegates were the plates used to print old currency notes, original hand-written ledger books pre-dating the advent of the computer age, and strong boxes.

“The BOV Museum provides a most comprehensive study on Maltese banking history. It is a pleasure to welcome a group of European banking historians within this building and to share experiences and facts about the evolution of our profession,” concluded Mr Brinkworth at the end of the visit.