India 1/2 rupee Silver ma-tam ( ), 2nd period, ca.1820-1835, Kingdom of Bhutan (KM#4.2)

With a star and crescent mark. Struck in attractive high billon silver, ca.1820-1835. 20mm, 3.21 grams. KM #4.2.

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Bhutan produced silver coins closely imitating the half-rupees of neighboring Cooch Behar, whose coinage had long circulated in the region. The Bhutanese issues retained fragments of the original Devanagari legends but gradually became increasingly stylized, with additional letters, symbols, and privy marks appearing in the fields. These imitative half-rupees, generally known as ma-tam (matam), formed the basis from which a more distinctively Bhutanese coinage subsequently developed.