| South Korean won (1945–1953) | |
|---|---|
| 대한민국 원 (Korean) 大韓民國圓 (Hanja) |
|
| User(s) | Republic of Korea |
| Pegged with | US dollar |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | jeon (전/錢) |
| Symbol | None, the currency was referred to by using the hanja character 圓 |
| Plural | The language(s) of this currency does not have a morphological plural distinction. |
| Coins | 1 jeon Subsidiary coin issued by the Japanese government |
| Banknotes | 5, 10, 20, 50 jeon 1, 5, 10, 100, 500, 1000 won |
| Central bank | Bank of Joseon (1945-1950) Bank of Korea (1950-1953) |
| Website | www.bok.or.kr |
| Printer | National Printing Bureau (~ 1951) Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation (1951 ~) |
| Website | www.komsep.com |
| This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |
The won was the first South Korean currency and was in use from August 15, 1945 to February 15, 1953.
Contents |
Won is a cognate of the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen. The won was subdivided into 100 jeon (전; 錢; McCune-Reischauer: chŏn; revised: jeon).
Following the end of the Colonial Era and the division of Korea, the won was introduced to replace the Korean yen. The first banknotes were issued by the Bank of Joseon until 1950, when the currency management switched to the Bank of Korea.
At the time of the introduction in 1945 the won was pegged to the Japanese yen at a rate of 1 won = 1 yen. In October of the same year the anchor currency was changed to the US dollar at a rate of 15 won = 1 dollar. Toward the end of the Korean War the won was devalued at 6000 won = 1 dollar.[1] Following that the hwan was introduced as the new currency at a rate of 1 hwan = 100 won.
The 1 jeon coin was the only coin in circulation in South Korea at the time. It was not issued by the Bank of Joseon but by the Japanese government as subsidiary money. [2]
The won was subdivided into 100 jeon. Only banknotes were issued. Initially, the won was issued by Bank of Joseon with a similar design to the older notes of the Japanese occupation period. However, there were two subtle and important differences. The new notes replaced the paulownia, the badge of the government of Japan, with the Rose of Sharon, South Korea's national flower; and the clause about exchangeability with the Japanese yen was removed.
| Bank of Joseon issed notes |
|---|
| Value |
| 5 jeon |
| 10 jeon |
| 20 jeon |
| 50 jeon |
| 1 won |
| 5 won |
| 10 won |
| 100 won |
On June 12, 1950, the Bank of Korea was established and assumed the duties of Bank of Joseon. The Bank of Joseon's notes were still kept in circulation as not all denominations were replaced by the Bank of Korea's notes.
| Bank of Korea issed notes [1] (Korean) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Dimensions | Main Color | Description | Date of | Printer | |||
| Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | issue | withdrawal | ||||
| 100 won | 158 × 78 mm | brown | Gwanghwamun | Value | July 22, 1950 | February 17, 1953 | National Printing Bureau (Japan) | ||
| 500 won | 145 × 61 mm | blue | Lee Sung-man | Pagoda Gongweon in Seoul | October 10, 1952 | KOMSEP | |||
| 1000 won | 171 × 78 mm | green | Value | July 22, 1950 | National Printing Bureau | ||||
| 145 × 61 mm | blue | Pagoda Gongweon in Seoul | October 10, 1952 | KOMSEP | |||||
| These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter. For table standards, see the banknote specification table. | |||||||||
| Preceded by: Korean yen Reason: Division of Korea and moving toward a full sovereign nation from Allied occupation Ratio: at par |
Currency of South Korea 1945 – 1953 |
Succeeded by: South Korean hwan Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 hwan = 100 won |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||