10 Hwan

The hwan was introduced in February 1953 as South Korea replaced the won at a rate of 100 won to 1 hwan — a desperate measure during the Korean War to curb the hyperinflation that had reduced the original won to near worthlessness. This note belongs to the earliest phase of the new currency, when the country was still actively fighting and monetary stability was more aspiration than reality.

Domestic printing by the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation marked a deliberate shift away from the wartime reliance on American military payment certificates and foreign-printed emergency issues. The infrastructure to produce it was barely in place.