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20 Won Megaptera Novaeangliae
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
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| Composition | Brass |
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| Obverse description | Central motif depicts the Taedong Gate (Taedongmun), a historic multi-tiered traditional Korean gate tower in Pyongyang, rendered in fine relief against a burnished field. The architectural structure is shown in three-quarter perspective with elaborate tiled rooflines and a stone base, surrounded by stylised foliage at the lower register. The circular legend in Hangul reading 조선민주주의인민공화국중앙은행 (Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) arcs around the upper periphery. The denomination '20 WON' appears in Latin characters at the base of the coin, with the Hangul equivalent '20 원' also present to the right. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | 조선민주주의인민공화국중앙은행 20 WON (Translation: Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) |
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| Additional information |
North Korea's foreign-currency commemorative program, active from the 1970s onward, was never intended for domestic circulation — these brass issues were produced exclusively for sale to overseas collectors, generating hard currency for a state perpetually starved of it. The humpback whale series sits within that commercial framework, minted in small quantities through state-run numismatic export channels.
Megaptera novaeangliae was listed under CITES Appendix I in 1986, making international commercial whaling effectively illegal. A DPRK whale coin appearing the same year the IWC moratorium took full effect would have carried pointed irony; this 2001 issue arrives fifteen years into that ban.