Catalog
50 Won
| Issuer | Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1978 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Won (1947-date) |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette shows three figures — a soldier, a woman, and a worker — raising a torch and a book aloft, rendered in an intaglio-style socialist realist composition against a fine guilloche underprint. The state emblem of the DPRK appears to the left, with the denomination '50' in an ornate cartouche at upper right and Korean script inscriptions at top and bottom. A red overprint overlay bearing Korean text and the date '2002' is applied diagonally across the face, indicating the trial or commemorative character of this note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 조선민주주의인민공화국 중앙은행 주체 오십원 다음걸 경축 90돐 주체91(2002)년4월15일 |
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| Comments |
North Korea's 1978 note series was issued in two distinct forms: one for domestic use and one — distinguished by red serial numbers and a special overprint or seal — intended for foreign visitors and diplomats operating through the state's won exchange system. Determining which sub-type a given example represents matters considerably for attribution. P#8B falls within the domestic civilian issue, circulating through the tightly controlled ration-based economy where cash played a more symbolic than transactional role.
The watermark on this series is a simple repeating pattern, unremarkable by international standards but notable given how little investment Pyongyang typically made in anti-counterfeiting infrastructure at this period.