The 1 Mun Ch'ang was produced at the Ch'angdŏkkung palace mint in Seoul, one of roughly two dozen government offices and royal institutions authorized to strike cash coins during the reign of Gojong. This fragmented minting system — a deliberate policy to distribute seigniorage revenue across the bureaucracy — resulted in dozens of mint mark varieties distinguishable only by the reverse characters, of which Oseong catalogues over 200 distinct attributions across the broader Mun series.
Production collapsed abruptly when Japan forced Korea to adopt a modern decimal currency system following the 1894 Gabo Reform.
The 1 Mun Ch'ang was produced at the Ch'angdŏkkung palace mint in Seoul, one of roughly two dozen government offices and royal institutions authorized to strike cash coins during the reign of Gojong. This fragmented minting system — a deliberate policy to distribute seigniorage revenue across the bureaucracy — resulted in dozens of mint mark varieties distinguishable only by the reverse characters, of which Oseong catalogues over 200 distinct attributions across the broader Mun series.
Production collapsed abruptly when Japan forced Korea to adopt a modern decimal currency system following the 1894 Gabo Reform.