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100 Won Panda
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Second Won (1959-2009) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The national coat of arms of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea occupies the central field, depicting a hydroelectric power station before a mountain landscape, surmounted by a five-pointed star emitting rays, and flanked by sheaves of rice bound with a ribbon bearing the state name in Hangul. The circular legend around the periphery reads the name of the Central Bank in Hangul, with the weight '7g' and fineness '999' inscribed in the field to the left and right respectively. The date '1997' appears in the lower exergue, flanked by two small laurel sprigs. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Two giant pandas rendered in full polychrome enamel color are depicted in a naturalistic scene, seated amidst green bamboo grass; the foreground panda holds a red blossom while the second panda leans in from behind beneath a flowering tree with vivid red blossoms. Chinese characters '熊猫' (meaning 'panda') appear in the upper left field. The curved legend 'FAUNA OF ASIA' arcs along the upper right periphery in Latin script, while the denomination '100 WON' is inscribed in the lower exergue. |
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| Additional information |
North Korea began issuing collector-oriented silver pieces in the 1980s primarily as hard currency earners, sold abroad through state trading companies while remaining entirely outside domestic circulation. The 1997 date places this coin in the midst of the Arduous March famine, a period of catastrophic food shortages during which the regime nonetheless maintained its foreign numismatic program — foreign exchange had its own logic in Pyongyang.
The panda theme was almost certainly chosen to appeal to the established Chinese collector market, piggybacking on the prestige of the Chinese Panda series launched by the People's Bank of China in 1982.