WON: COIN OF NORTH KOREA (DPRK)
100 won (원), 2005: Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
Date on coin: 주체 94 (94th year on the Juche calendar) = 2005 (Gregorian calendar).
The Juche calendar is a chronology in the DPRK. Kim Il Sung's (the founder of North Korea) year of birth is taken as the starting point in the Juche calendar — 1912 is considered the first year. The Juche calendar, named after the Juche ideology.
100 원: 100 won.
조선민주주의인민공화국중앙은행: Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
백 원: one hundred won.
주체 94 (2005): Juche 94 = 2005.
The National Emblem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (the coat of arms of North Korea).
- Aluminium: 27 mm - 2.27 g
- Reference price: 0.9$
COIN WON — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA (NORTH KOREA, 1987-…): won = 100 chon
- REPUBLIC OF KOREA (SOUTH KOREA, 1966-…): won = 100 jeon (without coins)
- RUSSIAN INFLUENCE /sometimes — RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF KOREA/ ("russified" korean coins, 1901): won = 100 chon
- KOREAN EMPIRE (1905-1909): won = 100 chon
The name of the Korean coin won is related to the denominations of neighboring China (yuan) and Japan (yen) and means "round shape".
The fact is that in ancient times in the Far East (as in many other parts of the world) became extremely popular Spanish Dollars. For the local population, these large round silver coins were somewhat unusual: at that time, currencies of other shapes were used there. Therefore, it is not surprising that these coins in Korea were called simply — 원 ("won": meaning "round").
