Having built up a world based around the ancient historical provinces of Germania using multiple interwoven series of bullion coins, it now seems Germania Mint has set its sights on enhancing its collaboration with the Mediterranean island of Malta. They’ve already issued a pair of excellent designs in both bullion and numismatic forms, Knights of the Past, giving us a glimpse at Malta’s medieval military past, but now it’s the island’s cultural history in focus.

The Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta was built in the 16th century, and this palatial residence served as the seat of power for the Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller, although now does duty as the Office of the President of Malta and various other government offices. The palace’s imposing façade showcases a captivating blend of Mannerist and Baroque styles, while its opulent interior boasts exquisite frescoes, intricate tapestries, and grand halls adorned with chandeliers and antique furniture. Amongst the ceiling frescoes is inspiration for the new coin.

Inside the Grand Master’s Palace, specifically in the Council Chamber, there is a remarkable ceiling painting depicting an eagle and a snake. The eagle symbolises strength, power, and freedom, while the snake represents wisdom and knowledge. This image is a powerful allegory that likely reflects the virtues and ideals upheld by the Knights Hospitaller during their rule. The artwork is beautifully executed with intricate details, vibrant colours, and skilful brushstrokes, creating a visually stunning focal point within the palace’s richly adorned interior. We couldn’t find an image of it, sadly, as photography in the room is banned.

The coin takes that image and overlays it on a wavy background field, meant to symbolise the Mediterranean Sea. The border holds the text ‘GOLDEN EAGLE’ the biggest raptor in Europe, and a potent icon of medieval heraldry. The eagle is clearly meant to represent the knights, as being good, fighting what they saw as evil wherever they find it, being either heretics of their own faith, or those of the Islamic invaders of the Middle East they saw as theirs.

The obverse has at its centre the coat-of-arms of the Central Bank of Malta, surrounded by a wreath of olive and palm leaves, a peace symbol. Intertwined with it are roses and lilies, with the former said to reference majesty and glory, while the latter is an attribute of purity and harmony. It’s all extremely pretty, a testament to the effort put into the obverse faces of their coins by the mint, something we wished more would do.

At present, there is just a solitary format in the range, the ever-popular one-ounce silver, now in 0.9999 fineness, and sporting the ubiquitous brilliant uncirculated finish. The mintage is a healthy 100,000 units, indicating this is more of an outright bullion coin, rather than the semi-numismatic offerings in the considerably rarer Germania-themed designs. Each coin will be encapsulated. It will be available to buy from the 30th June, when the official launch will take place.

However, for those of you who have, or will sign up to our newsletter by the 21st June, we have a chance to win one of these cool coins before launch. Germania Mint was kind enough to send us an extra coin for a giveaway. On the 22nd, we’ll randomly choose one of the people on the newsletter list, and they will get the coin. I can’t see a reason why it shouldn’t be open to all, although if you get hit with import tax, that will be down to you. Unlikely, as we’ll mark it at the spot price. We’ll probably use this method for any future giveaways we do, although on our budget, that may not be often, so do sign up. It’s only a simple RSS feed telling you when new articles go up. Good luck!