Country guide
South Korea
South Korea’s modern coinage began in 1966 — but its story stretches back through the Joseon dynasty and the short-lived Korean Empire. This hub covers the won’s history, the 1998 mint-set rarity every Korean collector knows, the Olympic commemoratives, and imperial rarities. The World Key Dates series includes the 1998 500-won “million-won coin” episode.
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Coin entries
Coins of South Korea
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History & collecting
The story behind the coins, one tap away.
- The Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) and the Korean Empire (1897–1910) issued Korea’s pre-modern coinage; imperial gold coins and eagle-pattern half-won pieces appear at specialist auctions such as Poongsan Hwadong’s currency sales in Seoul (Korea JoongAng Daily).
- Modern won coinage began August 16, 1966, when the Bank of Korea introduced 1, 5, and 10 won coins — the first South Korean coins dated in the Gregorian calendar (earlier issues used the Korean calendar); the 1 won was brass, the 5 and 10 won bronze (Korean coin history summary).
- The 500 won coin was authorized January 8, 1981, and first issued June 12, 1982, to replace the 500 won banknote; the crane design symbolizes Korea’s economic leap (Wikipedia).
- The famous rarity: in 1998 the Bank of Korea canceled most 500 won production during the IMF-crisis coin drive, striking only ~8,000 pieces for gift/mint sets — only about 1,000 are estimated to circulate, and they trade for hundreds of thousands of won each (Wikipedia).
- The Bank of Korea issued extensive commemorative coinage for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, from base-metal 500 won pieces up to gold 50,000 won coins (24carat.co.uk; APMEX).
- What collectors hunt: the 1998 mint-set 500 won, first-series 1966 10 won in high grade, Olympic gold/silver commemoratives, and Korean Empire gold.
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