Catalog
1 Won
| Issuer | Central Bank of Korea (North Korea) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#13 |
| Obverse description | The upper left corner bears the National Emblem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while the central vignette presents a side trawler (jigger) at sea, rendered in intaglio against a red guilloche underprint. The Korean inscriptions name the issuing authority and denomination, with the year 1959 at the lower centre, flanked by ornamental rosettes. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 조선중앙은행 일원 1 일원 (Translation: Central Bank of North Korea, One Won, 1, One Won) |
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| Comments |
North Korea's 1959 currency reform replaced the series issued under Soviet occupation-era financial structures with a domestically framed set, though Soviet technical assistance almost certainly remained involved in production. The 1 Won of this series was part of a full redenomination that wiped out old currency at a rate of 100 old won to 1 new, a move that effectively destroyed accumulated private savings and tightened state control over whatever informal economy had survived the Korean War.
Pick 13 is among the lower-denomination notes of the series and consequently saw heavy circulation wear. Uncirculated examples are genuinely uncommon given the note's everyday transactional role in a tightly controlled planned economy where paper money changed hands constantly but was rarely preserved.