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2 Mun Kum, Extend
| Issuer | Joseon (1392-1897) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1753 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Cast round coin with central square hole. Four Chinese characters arranged in cruciform formation around the central void: 常 (Sang) at top, 平 (Pyong) at bottom, 通 (Tong) at right, and 寶 (Bo) at left, reading clockwise to form the legend 常平通寶 (Sangpyong T'ongbo), identifying the coin as currency of the Sangpyong Department of the Joseon Yi Dynasty. The characters are rendered in traditional regular script (kaishu) with clean, well-defined strokes typical of mid-eighteenth-century Korean cast coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | 常平通寶 |
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| Additional information |
The "Extend" (통보 상평통보 계열) series of cash coins was struck at multiple government arsenals and military offices simultaneously — the issuing bureau is encoded in the reverse inscription rather than tracked by mint mark in the Western sense. By 1753, the Joseon court had been managing chronic copper shortages for decades, periodically suspending and resuming cash coinage as bullion supplies fluctuated. The 2 Mun denomination was a deliberate policy instrument, introduced to reduce the quantity of metal per transaction value rather than simply strike more 1 Mun pieces.
Identifying the specific casting bureau from KM#379 examples requires close reading of the reverse characters — variations exist across at least a dozen offices.