2000 Won Kim Il Sung birthplace

Issued in 1992 to mark the 80th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth, this coin was produced almost entirely for foreign hard-currency markets — the DPRK's collector coin program through the 1990s was explicitly designed to generate convertible currency from Western and Asian numismatic buyers, not for domestic circulation. North Korean citizens had no access to gold coinage of any kind.

KM#53 is one of several denominations struck for this anniversary, with the 2000 Won face value bearing no relationship to any functional exchange rate.