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5 Mun Chon - machine-struck
| Issuer | Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1884 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central square hole flanked by four Chinese characters arranged in cruciform fashion within the field. Reading top to bottom, the characters 常平 (Sangpyeong) identify the Sangpyeong Treasury, the government department responsible for currency issuance during the Korean Joseon Dynasty. Reading right to left, the characters 通寶 (Tongbo) signify 'circulating treasure,' the standard Sino-Korean designation for currency. The legends are rendered in regular script (kaishu) style, consistent with cast and milled coinage of the Joseon period. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Korea's first machine-struck coin, produced at the Chonhwanguk mint in Seoul using machinery imported from Japan. The decision to mechanize coinage was part of the Joseon court's broader modernization push under the Gabo Reform pressures of the 1880s, with Japanese advisors directly involved in establishing the facility. Production was short-lived — the mint operated for only a matter of months before political instability and factional court conflicts halted output, making this issue genuinely scarce rather than artificially so.