60 Réis - Maria II Countermarked Coinage Tanga

The Tanga countermark program was a practical response to chronic small-denomination shortages in Portuguese India's coastal territories. Existing copper coins — primarily tangas from earlier reigns — were overstruck with the royal cypher to revalidate them under Maria II's authority without the expense of a full new minting operation. The practice was common across Portuguese colonial possessions when Lisbon's attention and budget were stretched thin by the Liberal Wars and their aftermath.

Gomes catalogues this as M2 29.01, with the countermark applied to host coins that vary considerably in their original condition — accounting for much of the striking inconsistency collectors encounter in this type.