20 Para - Mahmud II type B

Tripoli's regency under the Karamanli dynasty was already in a precarious position by 1808 — the family had ruled semi-autonomously since 1711, but Ottoman pressure to reassert direct control was mounting. This coin was struck in the name of Mahmud II, whose accession that same year following the deposition of Mustafa IV obliged vassal and semi-vassal mints across the empire to retool their dies accordingly.

The billon composition reflects chronic silver shortages endemic to North African provincial minting of this period, with actual silver content varying considerably between individual strikes.