Issued the year Kim Il Sung would have turned 90, this piece belongs to a wave of commemorative silver produced by the DPRK primarily for hard currency export rather than domestic circulation. North Korea has relied on foreign numismatic sales since at least the 1980s as one of several mechanisms for acquiring foreign exchange — coins like this one were never intended to pass through a North Korean citizen's hands.
Issued the year Kim Il Sung would have turned 90, this piece belongs to a wave of commemorative silver produced by the DPRK primarily for hard currency export rather than domestic circulation. North Korea has relied on foreign numismatic sales since at least the 1980s as one of several mechanisms for acquiring foreign exchange — coins like this one were never intended to pass through a North Korean citizen's hands.