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1/4 Teston - Immobilization in the name of Charles V
| Issuer | Besançon, Free imperial city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1623-1624 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.87 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A displayed imperial double-headed eagle occupies the central field, its wings spread and talons extended, flanked on either side by a Pillars of Hercules motif — two crowned columns rising from the lower field — emblematic of the Habsburg imperial authority. The design is enclosed within a beaded inner border. The surrounding Latin legend reads: + MONETA . CIV . IMP . BISONT, identifying the coin as the lawful coinage of the imperial city of Besançon. |
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| Additional information |
Besançon's practice of striking coins "immobilized" in the name of Charles V — decades after his 1558 abdication and 1558 death — was a deliberate political act, not an anachronism. As a Free Imperial City within the Holy Roman Empire, Besançon's minting rights were tied directly to imperial authority, and invoking Charles V's name and titles was a way of asserting those rights while sidestepping the perpetual jurisdictional friction with the Spanish Crown and the County of Burgundy that plagued the city throughout the seventeenth century.
By 1623–24, the practice was well-established enough to be essentially formulaic for the city's billon coinage.