A rare silver ingot dating back to the French period in Malta has been acquired by the Central Bank and will be displayed at its offices during Notte Bianca on October 4.
The French occupation forces in 1798 stole practically all the gold and silverware of Malta's churches and the homes of rich families. Most was melted down and turned into ingots or coins to pay the French troops.
Items held at the Mote di Pieta met the same fate.
According to a statement by Joachim Lebrun, the Master of the Mint, the first casting of gold bars took place on February 5, 1799. A total of 28 ingots of different weights were produced, which amounted to around 10,046 scudi. It appears, however, that the ingots from the first casting were never put into circulation as currency.
A second casting of gold ingots took place on July 8, 1799. In this operation 376 small gold ingots were cast, with a total value of around 30,806 scudi. It is recorded that 364 were issued in circulation and 12 were retained to meet the expenses of the Master of the Mint. All the ingots from this casting bear the alphabetical letter “I”.
The 3441 lbs of silver confiscated from the Monte di Pieta were melted and converted into 4285 ingots, for a total value of around 80,834 scudi. The first casting of silver ingots took place on April 16, 1799. In all there were 14 casting operations, each of which was identified by a different letter from “A” to “P” (letters “I” and “J” were not used on silver ingots). The casting operation letter was stamped on the upper corner of the ingots.
All the ingots were stamped with a lion rampart in an oval frame. The edges where the ingot had been removed from the bar were stamped with paschal lamb to prevent fraud.
Although the exact intrinsic value was stamped on the ingots, there were instances when these unusual and crude forms of money were refused or accorded a lower value by profiteers.
To stop such practices General Vaubois, commanding the French in Malta, issued a proclamation on April 24, 1799 in which he declared that ingots had to be received and exchanged as money at the value imprinted on them. Refusing the ingots, according them a lower value, or refusing to give change when payments were made in ingots, became an offence which incurred a penalty equal to the value of the ingot refused.
Only one gold and seven silver ingots have remained. The gold ingot and two silver ingots form part of the National Collection of Malta. A further silver ingot is held in the collections of the British Museum and another two silver ingots are at the museum of Order of St John at Clerkenwell, UK.
In 1903, Brause Manfeld recorded another silver ingot, and in 1956 Victor Denaro found another silver ingot, which had been in the collection of Angelo Galea of Mosta.