Teston - Francis I 8th type

The teston was France's answer to the large silver coinages spreading across Europe from Italian city-states — the name itself derives from "testa," head, reflecting the then-novel emphasis on a realistic royal portrait rather than a stylized effigy. Francis I adopted and expanded the denomination aggressively, partly to fund the Italian Wars that dominated his reign and consumed staggering sums across multiple campaigns between 1515 and 1525 alone. The eighth type spans a long emission window, and attribution between subtypes depends heavily on mint mark and the specific reverse legend arrangement — Gadoury's R1 designation signals genuine scarcity rather than collector hyperbole.