10 Won Belgian Franc

Issued by the DPRK's central bank in 2002, this piece belongs to a wave of North Korean collector coins produced almost exclusively for hard currency export — the state earned foreign exchange by selling commemorative silver to dealers in Europe and Asia while the domestic population had no access to such issues. The "10 Won / Belgian Franc" dual denomination reflects the transitional moment before Belgium abandoned the franc for the euro, a changeover completed on 1 January 2002, meaning this coin memorialized a currency that had already ceased legal tender status by the time the dies were cut.