| Description : In 1914, a farmer in Tarxien discovered large limestone blocks
while ploughing. Due to the discovery of the nearby hypogeum of Ħal‐Saflieni, which became known in 1902, he
suspected they might have archaeological significance and informed the director of the national museum, Themistocles Zammit.
He immediately began excavations, which by 1920 had uncovered four distinct, interconnected temples dating between 3600 and
2500 BC, the final phase of the Neolithic period. The discovery of the temple complex contributed to the development
of Malta's national identity and confirmed the existence of an ancient culture on the Maltese islands. In 1992, the Tarxien
Temples were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Megalithic Temples of Malta. The coin, designed by
Noel Galea Bason, shows the central temple built between 2900 and 2500 BC. Below it is the altar ‐
presumably used for animal sacrifices ‐ of the Western Temple built around 3000 BC, which is now kept in the
National Archaeological Museum of Malta in Valletta. Spirals are depicted as an ornament on it. The issue occasion "TARXIEN
TEMPLES 3600‐2500 BC" is written in three lines at the top. On the right are the designer's initials "NGB" and at
the bottom the country of issue "MALTA" and the year of issue "2021". The coin was produced without mint mark by the
French mint Monnaie de Paris in Plessac; on Coincard specimens the year is flanked on the left by a cornucopia as
their mint mark, while on the right the square mintmaster's mark represents the French chief engraver Joaquin Jimenez.
Specimens included in coin sets bear an "F" (for France) in the 6 o'clock star. |
