Teston of Dauphine - Francis I 2nd type

Francis I assumed the Dauphiné before he was king — he held the title Dauphin only briefly, from 1514 until his accession in January 1515, which makes the dating of this series genuinely complicated. The teston as a denomination had been imported from Milan, where Francesco Sforza first struck the grosso di testone in the 1460s; French royal adoption of the type reflected both the Italian ambitions of the Valois and a practical need for a large silver coin capable of handling the fiscal demands of sustained warfare.

The 2nd type is distinguished from the 1st by specific die modifications documented in Duplessy. Production spanned multiple mints across the reign.