South Korean hwan

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South Korean hwan 대한민국 환 (Korean) 大韓民國圜 (Hanja)
User(s)	Republic of Korea
Subunit
1/100	jeon (전/錢) Never used
Plural	The language(s) of this currency does not have a morphological plural distinction.
Coins	10, 50, 100 hwan
Banknotes	1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 hwan
Central bank	Bank of Korea
Website	www.bok.or.kr
Printer	Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation
Website	www.komsep.com
Mint	Philadelphia Mint
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The hwan (圜, 환) was the unit of currency in South Korea from February 15, 1953 to June 9, 1962.

Due to devaluation of the won (from 15 won to the US dollar in 1945 to 6,000 won to the dollar in 1953) the hwan was introduced in 1953 at the rate of 1 hwan = 100 won. The hwan was nominally subdivided into 100 cheon but the lowest denomination issued was 10 hwan.

Banknotes were issued in denominations of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 hwan, with coins issued between 1959 and 1961 in denominations of 10, 50 and 100 hwan. These were the first coins in the history of South Korean currency.

The hwan suffered from inflation as well. At its introduction, 1 US$ = 60 hwan but at the end of its life, 1 US$ = 1250 hwan. In 1962, the won was reintroduced at the rate of 1 won = 10 hwan. The 10 and 50 hwan coins continued to circulate until March 22, 1975.

Inflation slowed down considerably afterwards, compared to the 8333 fold depreciation against United States dollar in the 17 years from 1945 to 1962.

1 Coins
2 Banknotes
- 2.1 American printed notes
- 2.2 Korean printed notes
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Coins

The coins were minted by the Philadelphia Mint.

Hwan Coins [1] (Korean)
Image		Value	Technical parameters			Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse	Value	Diameter	Mass	Composition	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue	withdrawal
		10 hwan	19.1 mm	2.46 g	Copper 95% Zinc 5%	Rose of Sharon, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), "Republic of Korea", year of minting	1959 (Korean calendar 4292)	October 20, 1959	March 22, 1975
		50 hwan	22.86 mm	3.69 g	Copper 70% Zinc 18% Nickel 12%	Geobukseon, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), "Republic of Korea", year of minting	1959 (Korean calendar 4292)	October 20, 1959	March 22, 1975
		100 hwan	26.0 mm	6.74 g	Cupronickel Copper 75% Nickel 25%	Lee Sung-man, value, bank title (hangul)	Value (digit), "Republic of Korea", year of minting	1959 (Korean calendar 4292)	October 30, 1959	June 10, 1962
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world coins. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

[edit] Banknotes

[edit] American printed notes

The first hwan notes were printed by the United States Government Printing Office. It should be noted that all hanja and hangul inscription on both the obverse and reverse sides of these notes are written right to left (traditional direction), instead of the modern (Westernized) left to right.

They have a few obvious defects. The term "hwan" is written in hanja (圜) while "won" is written in hangul (원) and English. Those problems were attribuated at a urgent need for new banknotes and the change in currency name, as well as the decision to commission the new notes to be manifactured in the United States.^[1] Unaware banknote catalog editors may erroneously categorize these notes as part of the old won system, such as the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money by Albert Pick.

American printed hwan notes [2] (Korean)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse	Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Obverse	Reverse	issue	withdrawal
		1 hwan	111 × 54 mm	Pink	Bank name (hanja), value (hangul and hanja)	Bank of Korea's symbol	February 17, 1953	June 10, 1962
		5 hwan	111 × 54 mm	Red	Bank name (hanja), value (hangul and hanja)	Bank of Korea's symbol
		10 hwan	156 × 66 mm	Purple	Bank name (hanja), value (hangul and hanja), Geobukseon	Bank of Korea's symbol
		100 hwan		Green
		1000 hwan		Brown
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Korean printed notes

Korean printed hwan notes [3] (Korean)
Image		Value	Dimensions	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse	Value	Dimensions	Obverse	Reverse	issue	withdrawal
		10 hwan	156 × 66 mm	Namdaemun	Haegeumgang near Geoje	March 17, 1953	June 10, 1962
		10 hwan	156 × 66 mm	Namdaemun	Haegeumgang near Geoje	December 15, 1953
		50 hwan	149 × 66 mm	Independence Gate	Yi Sun-sin's bronze statue, Geobukseon	August 15, 1958
		100 hwan	156 × 66 mm	Lee Sung-man	Independence Gate	December 18, 1953
					Independence Gate	February 1, 1954
					Value	March 26, 1957
				Mother and her child	Independence Gate	May 16, 1962
		500 hwan	156 × 73 mm	Lee Sung-man	Value	March 26, 1956
				Lee Sung-man	Value	August 15, 1958
				Sejong the Great	Main building of the Bank of Korea	April 19, 1961
		1000 hwan	166 × 73 mm	Lee Sung-man	Bank of Korea's symbol	March 26, 1957
		1000 hwan	165 × 73 mm	Sejong the Great	Torch	August 15, 1960
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Bank of Korea. 우리나라의 화폐, 1953년~1962년 (korean). Retrieved on December 4, 2006. “긴급통화조치로 화폐단위가 圓에서 圜으로 바뀌었음에도 이 당시 은행권은 圜을 '원'으로 표기하고 있는데 이는 동 은행권이 긴급통화조치의 결정 이전에 다른 용도로 미국연방인쇄국에서 제조된 것이기 때문." → Translation: "With the Emergency Currency Measures, and also the exchange of currency from the won to the hwan, at the time "won" was inscribed for "hwan" on the new banknotes; and that's because, as a result of a previous Emergency Currency Measure's decision, these new notes to be issued were to be manifactured by the US Government Printing Office.”

Tables of modern monetary history: Asia

[edit] External links

Preceded by: South Korean won (1945) Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 hwan = 100 won	Currency of South Korea 1953 – 1962	Succeeded by: South Korean won Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 won = 10 hwan

v • d • e

Historical currencies of Korea

Mun
1633–1892

Yang
1892–1902

Won
1902–1910

Yen
1902–1945

N. old won
1947–1959

N. new won
1959–present

S. old won
1945–1953

Hwan
1953–1962

S. new won
1962–present

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/o/u/South_Korean_hwan_d186.html"

Categories: Currencies of Korea | History of South Korea | Modern obsolete currencies

South Korean hwan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Coins

[edit] Banknotes

[edit] American printed notes

[edit] Korean printed notes

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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