Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Teston - Louis XII
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1514 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 9.59 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A crowned shield of France semee-de-lis, charged with fleurs-de-lis, displayed centrally within a multilobed inner circle and flanked by foliate decorative elements. The shield is surmounted by an elaborate royal crown rendered in high relief. The surrounding circular Latin legend, separated by decorative stops, presents the Christus vincit formula: + XPS : VINCIT : XPS : REGNAT : XPS : IMPERAT, a traditional invocation proclaiming Christ as victor, king, and ruler. The overall composition reflects late-medieval heraldic conventions combined with Renaissance decorative sensibility. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The teston was France's first large silver coin struck with a realistic portrait, introduced under Louis XI and refined under Louis XII in direct imitation of the Italian testone — itself a Milanese innovation of the 1470s. Louis XII had personal reasons to embrace the format: his Italian campaigns gave him direct exposure to the Sforza coinage, and his claim to Milan meant adopting its monetary prestige carried political weight. This 1514 issue is among the final testones struck under his reign; Louis XII died on January 1, 1515, making late-dated pieces chronologically tight against his death.