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50 000 Won Turtle Boat
| Issuer | Bank of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays a highly detailed relief depiction of the Geobukseon (Turtle Ship), the celebrated 16th-century Korean ironclad warship developed under Admiral Yi Sun-sin. The vessel is shown sailing on stylised waves, its armoured deck studded with spikes and its dragon-headed prow facing left; two large ribbed sails are fully unfurled, and oars extend from the hull. To the right, a flagstaff bears a pennant alongside the official emblem of the 1988 Seoul Olympics — the Samtaeguk spiral above the Olympic rings. The circumferential legend XXIV OLYMPIAD SEOUL 1988 arcs around the upper field in Latin characters, with the denomination 50000 WON incuse along the lower rim. |
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| Mint | Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation (KOMSCO) |
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| Additional information |
Issued to commemorate the 1986 Asian Games held in Seoul, this piece belongs to a collector-focused series that the Bank of Korea used partly to generate foreign exchange ahead of South Korea's broader international coming-out moment — the 1988 Seoul Olympics were already on the horizon, and the government was acutely aware of the promotional value of high-profile numismatic releases. Mintages were tightly controlled and domestic circulation was never the intent.
The turtle ship itself, the geobukseon, was deployed by Admiral Yi Sun-sin during the Japanese invasions of 1592–98 — one of the earliest ironclad warship designs in recorded naval history.