Catalog
10 Won
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1978 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The central vignette presents a panoramic riverside industrial scene in dark brown intaglio over a pale rose guilloche ground, with a large factory complex and multiple smokestacks along the right bank reflected in a foreground waterway where small vessels are visible. A multicolour rosette medallion occupies the lower left, with interlocking guilloche borders along both vertical edges. The denomination numeral '10' appears at upper left and upper right, with the Korean denomination inscription at lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | 조선민주주의인민공화국중앙은행 십원 (Translation: Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ten Won) |
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| Comments |
North Korea issued this series in 1978 during a period when the domestic economy was operating on a strict dual-currency system — foreign visitors and diplomats used separate "exchange certificates," while notes like this one circulated exclusively among the general population and were theoretically non-convertible. The segregation was ideologically motivated as much as economically, designed to prevent any meaningful contact between hard currency and the domestic monetary supply.
Pick 20 is among the more frequently encountered notes from this era, suggesting it saw genuine circulation rather than the kind of careful hoarding common with North Korean material issued closer to the system's periodic revaluations.