Catalog
1000 Hwan
| Issuer | Bank of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1953 |
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| Value | 1000 Hwan |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 券行銀國韓 行銀國韓 원천 圜千 (Translation: Korean banknote, The Bank of Korea, One Thousand Won, One Thousand Hwan) |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in red-brown and dominated by the large stylised inscription THE BANK OF KOREA rendered in ornate lettering across the upper portion against a fine radiating guilloche background. A central floral rosette medallion sits at the midfield, flanked on the left by a denomination panel reading 千圜 and on the right by a panel reading 천원. The bottom margin carries the English legend ONE THOUSAND WON in letterpress, with decorative scrollwork framing the entire composition. |
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| Comments |
The Hwan was introduced in February 1953 as a redenomination of the wartime Won at a rate of 1 Hwan to 100 Won — an acknowledgment that the Korean War had effectively destroyed the currency's purchasing power. With South Korea's own printing infrastructure wrecked, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington produced the early Hwan series, including this 1,000-denomination note, one of the highest face values in the initial release.
P#15 is considerably scarcer than the lower denominations in the 1953 series, partly because high-value notes accumulated fewer handling cycles before being deposited or redeemed.