Catalog
1000 Hwan
| Issuer | Bank of Korea |
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| Year | 1960-1962 |
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| Size | 165 × 73 mm |
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| Obverse description | Intaglio portrait of King Sejong the Great in traditional Joseon court attire occupies the right portion of the note, set against a fine guilloche underprint in olive and brown tones. The large Hangul denomination characters 천환 appear centrally above an ornate rosette vignette, flanked by scrollwork corner devices bearing the numeral 1000. The issuing authority inscription 한국은행 is rendered below the central vignette, with the date 1962 inscribed at the lower centre. |
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| Variants | P#25a - 4293 (1960) P#25b - 4294 (1961) P#25c - 1962 |
| Comments |
The 1000 Hwan was the highest denomination in circulation during the final years of the hwan regime, issued against the backdrop of the April Revolution of 1960 and the subsequent military coup of May 1961 that brought Park Chung-hee to power. That political upheaval directly accelerated monetary reform — the hwan was replaced by the won in June 1962 at a rate of 10:1, effectively wiping out much of the denomination's practical value overnight.
Printed domestically by KOMSCO rather than contracted abroad, as many earlier Korean issues had been. The relatively modest print run of just over twelve million was curtailed by the currency conversion, and notes returned during redemption were destroyed in quantity.