10 euro – Centenary of the first performance of the Innu Malti

The coins were designed and engraved by Noel Galea Bason and were minted at the Royal Dutch Mint. The obverse of the coins feature the coat of arms of Malta. The reverse shows a portrait of Dun Karm Psaila the author of the 'Innu Malti' and a portrait of Profs Robert Samut the composer of the music of the 'Innu Malti'. The ‘Innu Malti’, Malta’s national anthem, came into being shortly after that Malta, then a British colony, was granted a measure of self-government in 1921. As a work the ‘Innu Malti’ combines the verses written by Dun Karm Psaila and the music of Robert Samut. The “Innu Malti” was first performed in public on 27 December 1922 during a concert held by the Elementary School Teachers’ Dramatic Club at the Manoel Theatre. The audience received it with great enthusiasm. It became very popular with the Maltese and in 1941 it was given official status by the local authorities. However, as Malta was a British colony, the ‘Innu Malti’ could not be referred to as the Maltese National Anthem, but as the ‘Hymn of Malta’. It was only when Malta attained independence, in 1964, that the ‘Innu Malti’ was formally recognised as the National Anthem of Malta and was formally inscribed as such in the Maltese Constitution.