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5 Won Blue stamp; non-convertible (Socialist) currencies, 2nd issue
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
| Type | Exchange certificates |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 조선민주주의인민공화국 중앙은행 5 오원 (Translation: Democratic People's Republic of Korea, The Central Bank, Five Won) |
| Reverse description | Central landscape vignette of the Taebaek Mountains with cascading waterfalls and Mount Kumgang rising at centre. A green intaglio seal is present on the face. Denomination numerals and Korean-script legends frame the composition. |
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The 1978 North Korean currency reform introduced a dual-currency system that separated foreign visitors from the domestic economy — but by 1986, the regime had gone further, subdividing the visitor-facing currency itself by nationality. Notes for socialist-bloc visitors were overprinted with a blue stamp, while capitalist-country visitors received red-stamped equivalents at a punitive exchange rate. This note belongs to the socialist tier: theoretically exchangeable at parity with the domestic won, but still barred from use in ordinary North Korean shops.
The system effectively quarantined foreign currency flows into state-controlled dollar shops. It collapsed quietly in the 1990s as the Soviet subsidy network disintegrated.