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2500 Won Queen Sunduk
| Issuer | Bank of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1970 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a composed scene within a raised inner circle: a three-quarter facing bust of Queen Seondeok (Sunduk) of the Silla Dynasty occupies the right foreground, her effigy adorned with an elaborate traditional Korean crown featuring tall branched ornaments and a beaded necklace, her hair braided. To the left in the middle ground stands a detailed rendering of a traditional Korean palace or temple complex with multi-tiered tiled roofs set upon a stone platform, evoking Silla-era architecture. The dates 632 AD 647, denoting the queen's reign, appear in the lower field within the circle. The circumferential legend REPUBLIC OF KOREA arcs along the upper border, while QUEEN SUNDUK - SILLA DYNASTY - is inscribed along the lower border outside the inner circle. |
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| Mintage | 4303 (1970) - KM#15.1; Valcambi Mint; Proof - 1,750 4303 (1970) - KM#15.2; Paris Mint; Proof - 100 |
| Additional information |
This piece was issued as part of South Korea's first gold commemorative series, authorized in 1970 to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Korean nation — a date derived from a traditional reckoning of Dangun's legendary establishment of Gojoseon in 2333 BC. The anniversary calculation is itself a political artifact, having been promoted by the Chun Doo-hwan and Park Chung-hee governments as a nation-building tool.
Queen Seondeok ruled Silla from 632 to 647 AD, the first reigning queen in Korean recorded history. Her inclusion in this series reflects the government's deliberate selection of figures whose prominence could anchor a unified Korean cultural identity during a period of intense Cold War division.