Teston of Dauphine - Henry II and successors small bust

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.