Bust of the King to right, wearing a crowned hat / crowned French coat of arms within a polylobe.

This Louis XII teston de Louis XII is the first French coin to feature the portrait of the reigning monarch. In the West, the old Roman tradition of coin portraits disappeared in the Mediaeval era to return during the Italian Renaissance in the late 15th century. The Sforza family, Dukes of Milan, were the first to struck coins with their effigy: the teston, which comes from the Italian 'testa', or head. These coins were immediately a great success, and Louis XII minted his own when he became Duke of Milan.

He brought this custom back to France, introducing it into royal coinage via a ruling of the 6th of April 1514. Testons featuring the effigy of Louis XII are extremely rare, as he died in December of that year.