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Teston - Immobilization in the name of Charles V
| Issuer | Besançon, Free imperial city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1622-1639 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Teston = 8 Groschen (1/4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ☩ MONETA . CIV . IMP . BISONT (Translation: Coinage of the imperial city of Besançon.) |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Besançon occupied a peculiar constitutional position: a free imperial city within the Franche-Comté, technically subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor yet fiercely protective of its mint rights against Spanish Habsburgs who controlled the surrounding county. The practice of "immobilization" — freezing the coin's nominal ruler as Charles V long after his 1558 abdication and death — was a deliberate legal fiction allowing the city to assert ancient imperial privilege rather than acknowledge the reigning emperor, sidestepping demands to update the type.
Production across this seventeen-year span coincided with the Thirty Years' War disrupting regional silver supplies and trade networks throughout Burgundy.