Over 360,000 euro coins starter kits have been ordered by the Central Bank to ensure businesses and the public have small change in hand when the country switches to the euro.
A spokesman for the National Euro Changeover Committee said 330,000 starter kits for the public and a further 33,000 for retailers have been ordered from France's Monnaie de Paris, which won the tender for the minting of the Maltese euro coins.
If the island meets its target to join the euro by January 1, the starter kits will be available from banks from December 17.
The Lm5 kit for the public will contain €11.65 worth of coins in different denominations while the Lm56.24 kit for businesses will have €131 worth of coins.
The government applied to join the eurozone last February through a letter sent to both the European Commission and the European Central Bank. It asked both institutions to set in motion the mechanism to establish whether Malta had reached all the eurozone membership conditions to join the single currency by January 1.
The Commission and the European Central Bank are expected to issue their recommendations by the middle of next month.
The spokesman said the starter kits will not carry exchange charges although the euro will remain a foreign currency until December 31.
He pointed out that in order to facilitate the euro adoption process, banks are already obliged to accept deposits of euro banknotes into euro denominated bank accounts without any charges being imposed.
Moreover, he said, once the irrevocably fixed conversion rate is established, banks will accept euro banknotes deposited by their business clients into Maltese lira accounts at the conversion rate.
The money will be free of any exchange charges and limited to banknotes accepted by businesses from customers.
The eight Maltese euro coins have three different designs on one side - the eight-pointed Maltese cross on the €1 and €2 coins, the Maltese emblem on the 10, 20 and 50 euro cent coins and the altar at the Mnajdra temple on the 1, 2 and 5 euro cent coins.
The other side of the coins - which is common to all countries - will show the extended map of the EU, including the new member states.
A number of test coins are expected to be completed later on this year. The second phase will consist of the mass production of the coins required for the changeover, and will only start after Malta receives the formal approval from the EU Council of Ministers to adopt the euro.