Verdun 1608 teston

photo courtesy cgb.fr

Verdun in 1648

This specimen was lot 327 in a cgb internet auction (Paris, September 2018), where it sold for €2,700 (about US$3,128). The catalog description noted,

"VERDUN - BISHOPRIC OF VERDUN - ERRIC DE LORRAINE-VAUDÉMONT Teston, 1608, Rarity: R3. Ce teston est frappé sur un flan large et légèrement irrégulier. Exemplaire recouvert d'une patine grise. Usure régulière. Obverse: + ERRICVS. A. LOTH. EPS. ET. COM. VIR. (Erric de Lorraine, évêque et comte de Verdun), Buste habillé à gauche de l'évêque Erric. Reverse: MONET. NO. AN. DO. 1608. CVSA (MG) (Monnaie nouvelle frappée l'an 1608), Écu à multiples quartiers avec un lambel à trois pendants, sous une couronne ducale sommée d'une mitre coupant la légende en haut. (bishopric of Verdun, Eric of Lorraine, 1593-1610, teston of 1608. Struck on a large and slightly irregular planchet. Worn but nicely retoned. Obverse: bust left; reverse: crowned and mitered arms of Lorraine.)

Verdun, long a bishopric in the Empire, was coveted and finally seized by king Henry II of France in 1552. The bishops, scions of the house of Lorraine, were permitted to issue coins until the town was annexed to France by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. This type is noted as very rare in the SCWC.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver, 8.38 g; this specimen is 8,51 g, 29 mm diameter, axis 6 h.

Catalog reference: Bd.1717 (80 f.), Flon.II, n° 9-11 p. 790, KM 8.

Source:

• Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.

Link to:

• Verdun 1608 1/8 teston
• Verdun 1612 teston
• Verdun (1617) teston
• Verdun (1617) thaler Dav-5912
• Coins and currency dated 1608
• return to French royal coinage (to 1793)