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20 Won Hippopotamus
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 2010 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a naturalistic wildlife composition featuring multiple hippopotami (Hippopotamus amphibius) rendered in high relief against a mirror-polished field. A large adult hippopotamus is depicted in full profile in the lower foreground, while two additional individuals are shown partially submerged in water in the middle and upper background. To the upper left, the scientific name Hippopotamus amphibius is inscribed in a curved banner in script lettering. A circular coloured insert at the left depicts a hippopotamus with open jaws in vivid red and black enamel, flanked by a stylised blue and white decorative element. The date 2010 appears in the lower exergue in Latin numerals. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
North Korea's foreign currency coin program, active from the 1970s onward, was never intended for domestic circulation. These pieces were produced explicitly for export sale to Western collectors, generating hard currency for a government otherwise cut off from international financial systems. The hippo subject has no particular connection to Korean geography or history — the series drew freely from global wildlife themes precisely because the buyers were foreign.
KM#492 is one of several fauna-themed pieces struck in this compositional tier, distinguished from the program's silver and gold variants by their more modest collector price points.