Malta 2 cents 1972 - Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons

The coin's story

In 1972, Malta went decimal and adopted the Maltese pound divided into 100 cents. The new coins, designed by the Briton Christopher Ironside, show on the reverse the value surrounded by vine leaves and on the obverse a subject drawn from the island's heritage. On the 2 cents coin, it is the helmeted head of Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons in Greek mythology, who came to the aid of Troy and was killed by Achilles. She is surrounded by four dolphins, a Maltese symbol also found on the island's arms from 1964 to 1975. The coins dated 1972 were struck in 11,153,000 pieces, from 1971 to 1974, and the coin remained in circulation until the change to the Maltese lira.