Lorraine 1626 teston

Jean Elsen sale 135, lot 825

This specimen was lot 825 in Jean Elsen sale 135 (Brussels, December 2017), where it sold for €190 (about US$263 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"FRANCE, SALM, Comté, François II (1597-1632), AR teston, 1626, Badonviller. D/ B. cuir. à d., au grand col. R/ Ecu couronné. Fines griffes au revers. Très Beau. (France, county of Salm, Francis II, 1597-1632, silver teston of 1626, Badonviller mint. Obverse: armored bust to right with wide collar; reverse: crowned arms. Fine scratches on reverse, very fine.)"

This type was issued in Lorraine 1626-31 in the name of Francis II tho he abdicated in favor of Charles IV soon after attaining the throne. Lorraine in the early seventeenth century was in the borderlands between France and Germany and was contested between them. In 1626, she was still part of the Empire but the duke was a French client.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 9 g, silver, this specimen 8,42 g.

Catalog reference: Flon 780, 4; Saulcy XXVI, 2 var, KM-30.

Source:

• ^[1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 135, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2017.
• Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.

Link to:

• 1625 teston
• Lorraine (1608-24) florin Fr-152
• 1627 teston, Charles IV
• Lorraine 1629 teston KM-35 Francis II
• Coins and currency dated 1626
• return to French royal coinage (to 1793)