Christ on the euro (1)

Without sparking any misunderstandings or bad feelings, we have to question the wisdom of having the figure of Christ on Malta's euro coin. Christ is not related solely to our islands but to the millions of Christians all over the world. Therefore I cannot imagine anyone picking a euro coin with the figure of Christ and automatically associating it with Malta.

Malta's euro coins will soon become a hot collector's item as they belong to one of the smallest nations within the EU and therefore not in abundance like, say, the German, French or Italian versions. With a minimum of 500,000 European tourists per year the EU will soon be flooded with our Maltese euro coins.

We should therefore use this tool wisely and market our beautiful island. One item which is a near must is the Maltese cross. Everybody knows the Maltese cross and it would further help to shed a historic light on our proud past.

Other important symbols would be the Valletta bastions, Mdina, and, of course, one of our megalithic temples.

To ensure the greatest marketing effect we need to ascertain that the word 'Malta' is included on each coin. Spain does this. Austria does not but then we all know where Mozart came from, don't we?