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 of Dauphine - Henry II and successors small bust
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1556-1561 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Livre tournois (1204-1795) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Crowned quartered shield at center bearing the arms of the Dauphine, divided between fleurs-de-lis for France and the dolphin of the Dauphine, flanked on either side by a crowned Gothic H monogram. The central escutcheon is surmounted by an elaborate royal crown of the French type. A continuous Latin legend in the outer border carries the Christus vincit formula, with the date and mint letter incorporated into the legend. The heraldic composition is bold and symmetrically arranged, consistent with the conventions of mid-sixteenth century French royal provincial coinage. |
| 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 of Dauphiné occupies an awkward corner of French monetary history. Henry II held the Dauphiné as a personal domain before his accession, and the province retained distinct minting privileges that produced coinage running parallel to — but technically separate from — the royal French series. After Henry's death in 1559 from a jousting wound, his successors Francis II and Charles IX each briefly continued the Dauphiné issues, which accounts for the span of references across Dy#992 and the later Royales entries.
The "small bust" designation distinguishes this type from the earlier large-bust Testons of the same region — a die modification, not a denominational change.