Catalog
10 Won
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1978 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is executed in red-brown tones and presents a panoramic industrial vignette of a large waterfront factory complex, with tall smokestacks emitting smoke against a sky rendered through fine line engraving. A decorative rosette guilloche element occupies the lower left corner, while the issuer's name in Korean script runs along the top margin. The denomination is stated in Korean script at the lower right. |
| Reverse lettering | 조선민주주의인민공화국중앙은행 10 십원 |
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| Comments |
North Korea's 1978 banknote series was designed with a dual-currency system in mind. Foreign visitors and overseas Koreans were issued separate "convertible" notes — distinguishable by colored seals — while domestic notes like this circulated exclusively among the general population, with exchange between the two tracks officially prohibited. The won was not freely convertible by any external measure, and the state controlled all transactions in which this note would realistically appear.
Pick 8D is the domestic-circulation variant. The series remained in use for over a decade before the 1992 currency reform, at which point old notes were exchanged at a ratio that effectively wiped out any accumulated savings held by ordinary citizens.