See full images — free registration
Continue with Google — it's free or register with email

50 Yang

Issuer Joseon Government - Hojo (Department of Finance)
Year 1893
Type Log in to see details
Value Log in to see details
Currency Log in to see details
Composition Log in to see details
Size Log in to see details
Shape Log in to see details
Printer Log in to see details
Designer(s) Log in to see details
Engraver(s) Log in to see details
In circulation to Log in to see details
Reference(s) P#3
Obverse description Log in to see details
Obverse lettering 券換兌鮮朝 兌換署 戶曹 兩拾伍 換貨用以批 也交正通券 것환으ᄒᆞᄂᆞᆫ이 시ᄒᆞ로ᄂᆞᆫ퉁환 라ᄂᆞᆫ교동용표
(Translation: Joseon Exchange Note, Exchange Office Department, Fifty Yang)
Reverse description Log in to see details
Reverse lettering TAI WHAN SHOU Promises to Pay the Bearer on Demand Fifty Yang in Current Coin. FIFTY YANG. 오 십
(Translation: Fifty)
Signature(s) Log in to see details
Protection type Log in to see details
Protection description Log in to see details
Variants Log in to see details
Comments

The 1893 Joseon 50 Yang is among the earliest government-printed paper currency issued domestically in Korean history. Prior to this series, the Joseon court had relied on coin currency — chiefly the mun — for centuries, and the shift to government-backed paper notes represented a fundamental break with that monetary tradition, pushed through under the reformist pressure of the Gabo Reform period.

Printed locally by the Joseon Government Printing Office rather than contracted to a foreign security printer, the technical execution was limited by the equipment available. Surviving examples are extremely rare; the series had almost no time to establish circulation before the broader monetary upheaval of the mid-1890s overtook it.