The oldest currency was not even coins, but carved seashells, spades, and what is known as knife coins. These coins started around 200 BC and could be traded when needed and useful when money was plentiful. It’s widely accepted that the first round metal coin to pop up in Korea was made during the reign of King Songjong in 996 AD and called Geonwon Jungbo. This coin had a design similar to China’s coin from the Tang dynasty. To make it different, they put additional characters on the reverse side of the coin that said Tongbok which means eastern country. This shows the influence and power China had in Asia at the time. Since Korea was located to the east of China, they used the word eastern country to differentiate their coin. However, this coin did not catch on in popularity because the people preferred to barter goods.

During the Goryeo dynasty in 1097, King Sukjong tried to establish a cash-based society and cast Korean coins in bronze and brass. At this time, they moved the "Tongguk" characters to the front of the coin and they called this coin Tongguk Jungbo, which can be translated as money or treasure of the East Sea. But once again people refused to use the coins, they could not understand how this metal could be equal to food and supplies. Again 300 years later in 1423 at the start of the Joseon Dynasty, the King made another coin called the Joseon Tombok. This failed because the people still refused to use coins.

Around 1625-1650 the government wanted their people to use coins because China and Europe were using silver and copper coins successfully. The government enacted new laws requiring people to carry coins. King Hyojong went so far as to outlaw cloth as currency. Finally, coins started to get acknowledged. In 1670 to help get coins widely accepted, the government allowed private casting. The government would give molds to people so any man could make his own money; the coins were called Sangpyeong Tongbo. By 1678, the kingdom produced coins that were widely accepted and used. 

Between 1678-1715, Korea made so many coins that they ran out of copper. Then in 1752 to solve this problem, they dramatically reduced the size of the coin. By 1800, the most popular coin was the one Mun coin and every township was making their coins. All of these coins are called Yeopjeon which means leaf coin because they were molded on a center branch so they looked like leaves on a tree. In 1886, the Joseon dynasty moved to a more modern currency in which the coins were machine-pressed instead of molded.

The Korean Empire was founded in 1897. From 1897 until 1910 most of the coins were made in Osaka Japan. This is where we see the first Korean gold coin produced. Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and this was the start of the Japanese Empire where Korea became part of Japan. No Korean coins were produced from 1913 to 1945.

Post World War II through the Korean War era and up until 1958, no coins were minted. Korea only produced banknotes printed in America. In 1959, The Bank of Korea did not have their own mint so they reached out to the Philadelphia mint to produce new Korean coins. They minted 10, 50, and 100 Hwan coins, and then in 1961 they manufactured another batch of 10 and 50 Hwan coins. 

This brings us to the won we know and use today. This currency was released in 1966. The newly built mint near Busan produced 3 bronze coins in the denomination of 1, 5, and 10. This replaced the paper currency of the same value. If you want to start collecting modern Korean coins, here are some you should look out for:

10 won: 1966, 1969, 1977, and 1981

50 won: 1972, 1993

100 won: 1970, 1998, and 1981

500 won: 1982, 1987, 1998, and 2018

Interestingly in 1976, no 100 won coins were made. In 1998 instead of minting the normal 62 million 500 won coins, they only made 8,000 for mint sets because of the International Monetary Fund crisis in Korea. So this particular coin is super rare and can sell for as much as $2,500. If you want to learn more about Korean coins, you can visit The Bank of Korea museum in Seoul or purchase a catalog of Korean coins and banknotes which will give you the history of almost every Korean coin available.

About the Author

Mack Rock is 15 years old and has lived in Korea for almost 10 years. Mack is fluent in English and Korean. He is a co-author of Korean/English education book called 진짜 미국 영단어 그림 서전 that translates to Real United States English Word Picture Dictionary.

Mack gained popularity in Korea for his appearance as the youngest cast member on 대한외국인 (Korean Foreigners).  He has appeared in many Korean movies, dramas, and reality TV shows. Mack has been in several viral videos that have amassed over 150 million views. Mack was named by Asian Boss as the most popular American boy in Korea. His hobbies include coin collecting, metal detecting, unicycle, magic tricks, and video games.

Mack met Michael when he was a guest star on the show 대한외국인 - Korean Foreigners. They shared an interest in collecting coins backstage where Mack learned that Michael has one of the most impressive collections of coins in Korea. Michael is best known for his very popular YouTube channel called “미국아재-Mister American”. Michael is publishing a book about Korean coins that will be out soon.