50 Won FAO

The 50 Won coin was introduced in 1972 as part of South Korea's decimalized coinage reform, with the FAO designation appearing on select years to mark the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's campaigns promoting agricultural self-sufficiency. South Korea's inclusion in FAO coin programs reflected the country's rapid shift from a net food importer to a nation aggressively modernizing its agricultural sector through the Saemaul Undong rural development movement of the 1970s.

The nickel brass composition was adopted partly to resist the humid Korean climate, which had accelerated corrosion in earlier alloys.