Lorraine 1713 teston
This specimen was lot 41114 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $216. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Lorraine. Teston, 1713. Leopold I. NGC MS-62. From the Augustana Collection." Lorraine in the early eighteenth century was in the borderlands between France and Germany and was contested between them. In 1713, she was still part of the Empire but the duke was a French client. His son, Francis III (1729-37) married Maria Theresia of Austria and was forced to trade Lorraine for Tuscany. Lorraine went to Stanislaus Leszczynski, erstwhile king of Poland and father-in-law of Louis XV. On his death in 1766, Lorraine passed to France. This teston of 1709-16, while scarce, is more available than the very rare thalers and gold coins of the period. Another teston, with a different reverse, is recorded for 1716-17.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: KM-95 (listed under Germany).
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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