North Korea's bimetallic coinage of this period was produced almost entirely for foreign collectors rather than domestic circulation — hard currency earnings through numismatic exports were a documented revenue stream for Pyongyang during years of severe sanctions pressure. Coins of this type rarely, if ever, entered the domestic economy, where aluminum 1-chon pieces remained the practical currency of everyday transactions.
North Korea's bimetallic coinage of this period was produced almost entirely for foreign collectors rather than domestic circulation — hard currency earnings through numismatic exports were a documented revenue stream for Pyongyang during years of severe sanctions pressure. Coins of this type rarely, if ever, entered the domestic economy, where aluminum 1-chon pieces remained the practical currency of everyday transactions.