1/100 jeon (전/錢) | User(s) Republic of Korea | |
 | ||
Plural The language(s) of this currency does not have a morphological plural distinction. Symbol None, the currency was referred to by using the hanja character 圓 Banknotes 5, 10, 20, 50 jeon
1, 5, 10, 100, 500, 1000 won Coins 1 jeon
Subsidiary coin issued by the Japanese government | ||
The won was the first South Korean currency and was in use from August 15, 1945 to February 15, 1953.
Contents
Etymology
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).
History
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. Following that the hwan was introduced as the new currency at a rate of 1 hwan = 100 won.
Coin
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.