FRANCE, Royal. Henri II. 1547-1559. AR Teston du Moulin (28mm, 9.54 g, 6h). Paris (Moulin) mint. Dated 1554 A. Near EF.

Keystone 16 – The David C. Bianchi II Collection
Lot: 499.
Closing Date: May 20 2026 10:00 ET

Medieval & Early Modern World – France, Silver

Estimate: $ 1 500

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FRANCE, Royal. Henri II. 1547-1559. AR Teston du Moulin (28mm, 9.54 g, 6h). Paris (Moulin) mint. Dated 1554 A. Laureate and armored bust right / Crowned coat-of-arms. VG 377; Duplessy 990; Ciani 1285. Old cabinet toning. Near EF. A beautiful example. Rare in this condition.

From the David C. Bianchi II Collection. Ex Kroisos Collection (Stack’s, 14 January 2008), lot 2468.

France briefly experimented with machine-struck coinage in the 1550s. The equipment was made in Augsburg and set up in Paris at the Étuves de Palais – also known as the Moulin. Etienne de Laune and Jean Érondelle engraved the dies for this special, high quality coinage, which was struck for circulation from 1552-1558. As would occur in England under both Elizabeth I and Charles I, vested interests of the mint workers and high costs of maintenance would stymy attempts to adopt a milled coinage more broadly. The mint at the Moulin would continue to operate sporadically for the next hundred years, primarily striking medallic pieces.

Closing Date and Time: 20 May 2026 at 12:46:00 ET.



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