Catalog
500 Won
| Issuer | Bank of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1952 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#9 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central intaglio vignette of the ten-story Wongaksa marble pagoda (erected 1471) in Tapgol Park, Seoul, flanked by a traditional Korean pavilion and pine trees set against a mountainous background. The composition is enclosed within an elaborately engraved scrollwork border incorporating rosette guilloche medallions at left and right. The issuing authority inscription arches across the top, with the denomination rendered in English lettering along the lower margin. |
| Reverse lettering | The BANK OF KOREA 오 백 FIVE HUNDRED WON (Translation: Five Hundred) |
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| Comments |
The 1952 Bank of Korea 500 Won belongs to the desperate early period of South Korean paper currency, issued while the Korean War was still actively reshaping the peninsula. Wartime inflation had already rendered previous denominations nearly useless, and the 500 Won represented an uncomfortably high face value for a public that had seen purchasing power collapse within months.
The print date of 30 April 1945 in the metadata is almost certainly a cataloging anomaly — predating the Republic of Korea's establishment by three years and the Bank of Korea's founding in 1950 by five.