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1 Mun Yi Chong
| Issuer | Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1633 |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Copper |
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| Obverse description | Four Chinese characters arranged in cruciform fashion around a central square hole, reading top-to-bottom and right-to-left. The upper and lower characters read 常 (Sang) and 平 (Pyong), referencing the Sangpyeong Office (常平廳), the Korean government bureau that administered currency during the Joseon Dynasty. The right and left characters read 通 (Tong) and 寶 (Bo), forming the legend 通寶 meaning 'circulating currency.' The characters are rendered in regular script (kaishu) within a plain, unadorned field, typical of cast Joseon cash coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Chinese (traditional, regular script) |
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| Additional information |
Cast in 1633 under King Injo, this issue emerged from a Korea still recovering from the devastating Japanese invasions of the 1590s and the subsequent Manchu incursions. Mun cash coins of this period circulated fitfully — Korea's economy remained stubbornly barter-based for much of the 17th century, and repeated government attempts to force coin use into daily commerce met persistent resistance from a population that simply preferred grain and cloth as exchange media.
KM#5 is among the earlier standardized cast issues from the Hojo (Board of Taxation) mints, though attribution among early Joseon cash types requires careful attention to reverse mint marks.