French Teston
OriginFrance
First Minted1500s
MaterialSilver
TypeCoin
About French Teston
The French version of the Italian testone, a heavy silver coin featuring a portrait. Introduced under Louis XII. The teston spread the fashion for portrait coins across Europe. Francis I issued large quantities of testons from the Paris mint. The French teston was about 9.5 grams of silver. The coin was demonetized in 1577 but the portrait tradition it established continued in French coinage.
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