1/2 Pardau - José I Goa mint

The half pardau occupies an awkward position in Portuguese India's monetary history — a denomination kept alive largely by the demands of the local bazaar economy in Goa, where smaller silver fractions remained essential long after Lisbon had rationalized coinage elsewhere in the empire. José I's reign saw repeated administrative pressure on the Goa mint, which operated with chronic shortages of qualified staff and consistent silver supply problems rooted in the declining Estado da India trade revenues of the mid-eighteenth century.

The Gomes references Jo.46 and Jo.47 distinguish two die varieties within this emission, a detail worth noting for specialists working the series closely.