Genius (Convention), L’An II / 1793-W

KM 626.5; Friedberg 478, PCGS graded MS-63

On September 20, 1792, the National Convention was established to draw up a new republican constitution for France. The National Convention was notable as the first French assembly elected without class distinction. On December 10, the National Convention placed Louis XVI on trial as an enemy of the nation and on January 21 sent him to the guillotine. Once the king was dead, the heads of Europe unanimously declared war on Revolutionary France. As the external pressure mounted, so too did paranoia and violent factionalism within the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety that came to dominate it. Only on August 22, 1795, after the great bloodbath of the Reign of Terror (1793-1794) and the fall of Maximilien Robespierre, was the National Convention finally able to ratify the new republican Constitution of Year III (of the revolutionary dating era) that established the Directory.

Lille. Genius standing right, writing the Constitution, between fasces and rooster, date below. Reverse: Denomination within oak-wreath.

Ex Goldberg (31 January 2012), 3535