1 Won

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.