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100 Won
| Issuer | Bank of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1950-1953 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | National Printing Bureau (国立印刷局), Japan |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in brown on a light guilloche underprint and centres on an intaglio vignette of Gwanghwamun, the imposing main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, set against a mountainous background and flanked by figures in traditional dress. The bank title 韓國銀行券 runs across the upper portion within a decorative cartouche, while the large Sino-Korean characters 百圓 and the issuer seal 韓國銀行 in red appear to the right of the vignette. Numeral value counters reading 100 and the Hanja 百 occupy all four corners within ornate foliate borders. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 韓國銀行券 百 韓國銀行 百圓 100 |
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| Comments |
South Korea's earliest banknotes were printed in Japan under a wartime emergency arrangement — the Korean War broke out just five years after Japan's defeat and occupation, and the nascent Bank of Korea had no domestic printing infrastructure capable of producing currency at scale. The National Printing Bureau in Tokyo, which had printed Imperial Japanese currency for decades, was contracted to produce these early won notes at a moment when Seoul itself would change hands four times.
The Japanese printing origin was not advertised. Given the political climate of 1950, it was a practical necessity that few in either country wished to dwell on.