Bearn 1577 teston
This specimen was lot 865 in Jean Elsen sale 162 (Brussels, June 2025), where it sold for €500 (about US$693 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, BÉARN, Henri II et Marguerite de Valois (1572-1589), AR teston, 1577. D/ B. des époux f. à f. Au centre, une couronne. En dessous, la vaquette. R/ Écu couronné. Éclat du flan sur la tranche. (France, kingdom of Béarn, Henry II and Margaret of Valois, 1572-89, silver teston of 1577. Obverse: busts of the spouse facing each other, mintmark below; reverse: crowned arms. Edge fault, Very Fine.)"
This type was struck 1577 only along with another teston with quartered arms on the reverse. In the sixteenth century, Béarn was still autonomous and struck its own coinage. Henry's assumption of the throne of France would mean the incorporation of Béarn into the kingdom but the mints there would issue distinctive types until the end of the ancien régime.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 9.3 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 9,34 g.
Catalog reference: P.A. 3476; D. 1317.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 162: Collection Jacques Druart, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2025.
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