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1 Won Chinese Dragon Boat
| Issuer | North Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Won 1 KPW = EUR 0.00095 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Korean (Hangul)/Latin |
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| Reverse description | A highly detailed depiction of a traditional Far Eastern dragon boat occupies the central field, shown underway on stylised waves with a full crew of oarsmen at the lower deck and figures standing amidships amid multi-tiered pavilion structures and billowing pennants. The prow terminates in a prominent dragon head in high relief, facing right. The arched legend 'FAR EAST DRAGON SHIP' runs along the upper periphery in Latin characters, with the Korean equivalent '극동룡배' inscribed to the right in the field. The date '2001' appears in the exergue below the waterline. |
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| Additional information |
North Korea issued a small run of commemorative pieces in the early 2000s aimed squarely at the collector export market — hard currency the regime badly needed following the economic collapse of the 1990s, when the public distribution system failed and famine killed an estimated 240,000 to 3.5 million people. These coins never circulated domestically in any meaningful sense.
The dragon boat motif references the Duanwu Festival tradition with roots in the legend of Qu Yuan, the Warring States-period poet whose death in 278 BC the race is said to commemorate — an odd cultural borrowing for Pyongyang, given the regime's otherwise aggressive suppression of outside traditions.