2500 Won Eurasian Eagle Owl

North Korea issued a series of large-format silver wildlife pieces in the mid-1990s primarily for the international collector market, generating hard currency at a time when the country was entering the worst phase of its famine — the period North Koreans later called the Arduous March. These coins were never intended for domestic circulation and were distributed almost exclusively through foreign dealers and state-run export agencies.

The Eurasian Eagle Owl breeds across the Korean peninsula and would have carried symbolic resonance, though the practical motivation was straightforwardly commercial. KM#85 is a five-troy-ounce piece, placing it in the prestige bullion category favored by the DPRK's Paektusan Trading Corporation during this decade.