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1 Testoon - Francis and Mary 2nd Period, Type I
| Issuer | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1558-1559 |
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| Composition | Silver (.916) |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse features a large, boldly rendered crowned royal cipher composed of the conjoined letters F and M in Gothic script, occupying the centre of the field. A fleur-de-lis-adorned crown surmounts the monogram, while a cross of Lorraine — distinguished by its two horizontal bars — flanks each side of the cipher. The Latin peripheral legend, reading clockwise and interrupted by the date 1558, encircles the entire design within a beaded border. The overall composition reflects Franco-Scottish dynastic symbolism, commemorating the union of Francis II of France and Mary Queen of Scots. |
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| Additional information |
Francis and Mary's marriage in April 1558 made Mary simultaneously Queen of Scotland and Dauphine of France, a dynastic union that prompted an entirely new coinage acknowledging both titles. The Type I testoon of this second period was struck at Edinburgh under that joint authority — the first Scottish coinage to formally incorporate a French royal consort. Francis became Francis II of France in July 1559 upon Henry II's death from a jousting wound, rendering this short issue almost immediately obsolete as the titulature required revision.
Spink 5416 is among the scarcer testoon types of the reign.