1.000 Won

North Korea's 2008 redenomination program — which culled 100 old won into 1 new won — was a deliberate attempt to curb the informal market economy that had grown out of the 1990s famine years. The 2009 currency reform that followed wiped out private savings virtually overnight, sparking rare public protests and forcing Pyongyang into one of its few acknowledged policy reversals, including the execution of the reform's architect, Pak Nam-gi.

Whether this specific note circulated before or after that catastrophic reform cycle affects its survival story considerably. Notes from the 2008 series were largely rendered worthless within roughly a year of issue.