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5 Mun Kyun
| Issuer | Government Tithe Office (均役廳, Kyunyokchong), Joseon Dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 10.44 g |
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| Reverse description | Central square hole flanked by four Chinese characters in cruciform arrangement. At top, the mint mark 均 (Kyun), denoting the Government Tithe Office (均役廳, Kyunyokchong); at bottom, the denomination indicator 五 (O, meaning five); to the left, 當 (Dang, meaning 'equivalent to'); to the right, the series number 六 (Yuk, meaning six), indicating this coin belongs to series 6 of the issue. Together the reverse legend reads 均 / 五 / 當 / 六, identifying the issuing office, denomination value of 5 mun, and series number. |
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| Reverse lettering | 均 五 當 六 (Translation: Government Tithe Office, series 6, Value 5) |
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| Additional information |
The Kyunyokchong — the Government Tithe Office — was established in 1750 to administer the Uniform Tax Law, which replaced the deeply resented system of military cloth levies with a standardized grain tax. By 1883, the office had long outlived its original administrative purpose, and its coin issues were among the final gasps of the traditional cash-coin system before the Joseon monetary apparatus was overhauled under Japanese and Western commercial pressure. The minting authority assigned to such offices was fragmented across multiple government bureaus, which is precisely why Korean cash coinage of this period shows such pronounced variation in alloy consistency and flan preparation between issuing offices.