20 Para - Mahmud II type A, star next to toughra

Tripoli's regency coinage of this period occupied an awkward monetary position — nominally Ottoman, practically autonomous. The Karamanli dynasty, which had held Tripoli since 1711, was in the final decades of its rule when this piece was struck, and local billon issues like this one circulated in a market already flooded with debased coinage from multiple competing sources. The star placement distinguishing this variety from related toughra types likely served as a mint or emission marker, though the precise administrative reason behind it has not been conclusively documented.