1897 M? Straits Settlements 50 Cents

Well either it is an H that has got damaged/misread, or you have something unrecorded! Even with just the H, 1897 is a very scarce year, starting at $200 in Fine in my old version of Krause.
I would be keen to see a close up for the mintmark to confirm.
Value is anyone's guess if confirmed as an M. It would need to go to a good international auction and the most likely buyers would be in Malaysia where there are now many collectors of colonial coins from that area.

Yes - definitely an H. Still a scarce coin though and a great find.

Being that these facts below closely represent this coin's history I thought it might be of interest to share them with all:

The Straits Settlements, the former British crown colony on the Strait of Malacca, is comprised of four trading points: Labuan, Singapore, Malacca, and Penang. These organizations were either established or taken over by the British East India Co.

In SE Asia The Straits would have been somewhat equivalent in functionality to the Panama Canal in the Americas part of the world. The Strait of Malacca, the waterway between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore; connects the Pacific Ocean with the Indian Ocean through the South China Sea.

Many Persian Gulf vendors have traveled to Asian markets via this passage since it was the shortest distance.

fyi