I was browsing in an antiques fair yesterday in a small village in the South of France, when I came across these three coins.
1) The first was minted in 1792. It has the head of Louis the 16th, with the inscription, Le Roi des Français. Note he is not called the King of France, but King of the French which reflects the changing constitutional position of the King following the storming of the Bastille. The coin was circulating one year or less before he was executed, and during the period when he was obliged to reside in the Tuileries Palais, following his failed escape from Paris and arrest at Varennes.
2) The second was a coin minted during the period of the Directoire, and potentially during the terror. They changed the dating system, so I am still working out what date it is exactly. It has the representative head of the republique on it, rather than a head of state. If anyone can figure out what the date is I'd be grateful.
3) The third, is a small 10 cents coin minted in 1809 which has the insignia N for Napoleon and the name Napoléon Empereur around the outside. In 1809 he beat the Austrians at Wagnam, and won various other battles against the 5th coalition.
Et voila! A small trip through history with the coins of the day, just sitting around in an antique fair and cost next to nothing. It seems that these cost between €30 - 60 online depending on their state and rarity.
If anyone is coming to Paris anytime soon, there is an exhibition on at La Grande Halle de La Villette, which commemorates his life, as it is the 200th anniversary of his death. I saw it in the summer, and its quite interesting. https://lavillette.com/programmation/napoleon_e1073
This link says that the revolutionary calendar started from the birth of the république, and counted on from that, and that the start of year 2 was deemed to be 22 September 1793. This would mean that the second coin was minted between 22nd September 1796 and 21st September 1797. It says L'AN 5. I'm not sure what the AA underneath it means though....?