1 Won Hyonmu

North Korea has issued collector-oriented aluminum pieces through its state bank since the 1970s, largely targeting foreign currency revenue rather than domestic circulation. This Hyonmu-themed issue belongs to a wave of DPRK numismatic output from the early 2000s produced almost exclusively for export sale through intermediaries in China and Japan — pieces like this rarely, if ever, entered the hands of ordinary North Korean citizens.

The Hyonmu, one of the four guardian spirits of Korean mythology associated with the north direction, has deep roots in Goguryeo tomb murals dating to the 4th–7th centuries AD.