Catalog
1 Chon Socialist Visitor
| Issuer | Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1988 |
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| Value | 1 Chon (0.01 KPW) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain pink-red design on white paper, centered on a large scalloped guilloche rosette enclosing the numeral "1". To the right, a secondary oval guilloche vignette bears the Korean inscription "일전". A horizontal guilloche band runs along the top and bottom edges, and the denomination "일전" appears in a solid cartouche at the lower left, with the numeral "1" at the upper right corner. |
| Reverse lettering | 1 일전 일전 (Translation: 1 One Chon, One Chon) |
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| Comments |
North Korea maintained a parallel currency system for foreign visitors well into the 1990s, issuing denomination-matched notes through the Chohung — later Kwangmyong — exchange system that were legally distinct from domestic won. The 1988 series, of which this 1 Chon is the smallest denomination, was tied specifically to "socialist" visitors from friendly states — the USSR, China, Eastern Europe — and was physically distinguished from the "capitalist visitor" series by a red overprint or tint, ensuring the two currency streams could not intermingle in circulation.
The political logic was rigid: currency controls varied by the visitor's country of origin, with exchange rates and purchasing access calibrated accordingly.