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1000 Won
| Issuer | Bank of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1950-1953 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1000 Won |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of President Syngman Rhee (1875–1965), the first President of the Republic of Korea, rendered in intaglio style against a trellis guilloche underprint. Chinese and Korean legends are arranged around the portrait, with the issuing authority inscription at top and denomination in both Chinese characters and numerals. The overall design reflects Japanese-influenced security printing conventions of the early Korean banknote series. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in teal-green on cream paper and centres on a large oval guilloche vignette bearing the denomination numeral '1000 WON' in bold letterpress. The issuing authority legend 'THE BANK OF KOREA' appears within a decorative cartouche at the top, flanked by elaborate scrollwork borders. A floral motif, likely a hibiscus (mugunghwa), is set within an ornamental panel at the lower centre, with acanthus-scroll corner pieces completing the design. |
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| Comments |
South Korea's earliest paper currency was printed in Japan — a practical necessity given that the newly established Bank of Korea had no domestic printing infrastructure when the won was introduced in 1950. The National Printing Bureau in Tokyo had the capacity; geopolitics made the arrangement awkward but unavoidable. The Korean War, which began just weeks after the Bank of Korea's founding, created urgent demand for notes that the peninsula itself could not supply.
Wartime inflation hit hard. By 1953 the won had collapsed sufficiently to necessitate the hwan reform, which replaced it at 100:1. Notes from this series that survived did so largely outside normal circulation channels.