Standalone Korea Coin Encyclopedia
Korean Empire Coinage
A sovereign Korean coinage system shaped by domestic reform, modern minting, international standards, foreign production, and mounting external pressure.
대한제국 화폐 · 大韓帝國貨幣
- Systems
- 3
- Denominations
- 14
- Canonical issuer
- Korean Empire
- Publication
- Published
Sovereign identity
Korean reform is not reduced to foreign pressure
The catalog preserves Korean institutional agency while documenting international standards, foreign advisers, contract production, Japanese financial influence, and the later loss of monetary sovereignty.
Reform sequence
Yang and won systems have distinct legal structures
Authorization, implementation, manufacture, custody, issue, circulation, and colonial replacement are separate events.
| System | Dates | Base unit | Subunits | Standard | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Late Joseon hwan and mun modernization issues | 1888–1892 | hwan or mun by issue | — | transitional | institutional object evidence; complete legal instrument register pending |
| Yang-based modern system | 1892–1905 | yang | jeon, pun | silver-standard framework after 1894 regulation; subsidiary nickel and copper | 1894 New Currency Issuance Regulations |
| Korean Empire won system | 1905–1910 | won | jeon, rin | gold-standard framework with silver, nickel, and bronze subsidiary coins | 1905 implementation of the 1901 currency framework |
New Currency Issuance Regulations defined a yang-based modern denomination structure.
A gold-standard framework was declared in 1901 and implemented through 1905 coinage regulations; authorization and actual circulation are not conflated.
Annexation ended Korean imperial monetary sovereignty; colonial legislation and circulation changes are tracked without making earlier Korean coins Japanese.
Era-date model
Original inscription stays beside the Gregorian date
Gwangmu year = era year + 1896; Yunghui year = era year + 1906. Conversion never removes 光武 or 隆熙 from the catalog record.
| Era | Korean | Hanja | Dates | Offset | Boundary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gwangmu | 광무 | 光武 | 1897–1907 | +1896 | 元年 where used; retain original inscription |
| Yunghui | 융희 | 隆熙 | 1907–1910 | +1906 | 元年 where used; retain original inscription |
Denomination architecture
Do not merge units across reforms
Similar English unit names remain tied to their own legal system and base-unit ratio.
| Denomination | Korean / Hanja | System | Value | Base unit | Metal families |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 pun | 일 푼 · 分 | kr-system-empire-yang | 1 | pun | brass |
| 5 pun | 오 푼 · 五分 | kr-system-empire-yang | 5 | pun | copper |
| 2½ jeon | 두 돈 오 푼 · 二錢五分 | kr-system-empire-yang | 2.5 | jeon | cupronickel |
| 1 yang | 일 양 · 一兩 | kr-system-empire-yang | 1 | yang | silver |
| 5 yang | 오 양 · 五兩 | kr-system-empire-yang | 5 | yang | silver |
| ½ jeon | 반 전 · 半錢 | kr-system-empire-won | 0.5 | jeon | bronze |
| 1 jeon | 일 전 · 一錢 | kr-system-empire-won | 1 | jeon | bronze |
| 5 jeon | 오 전 · 五錢 | kr-system-empire-won | 5 | jeon | cupronickel |
| 10 jeon | 십 전 · 十錢 | kr-system-empire-won | 10 | jeon | silver |
| 20 jeon | 이십 전 · 二十錢 | kr-system-empire-won | 20 | jeon | silver |
| ½ won | 반 원 · 半圜 | kr-system-empire-won | 0.5 | won | silver |
| 5 won | 오 원 · 五圜 | kr-system-empire-won | 5 | won | gold |
| 10 won | 십 원 · 十圜 | kr-system-empire-won | 10 | won | gold |
| 20 won | 이십 원 · 二十圜 | kr-system-empire-won | 20 | won | gold |
Mint and production
A foreign facility never becomes the issuer
Jeonhwanguk and Osaka are production facilities or networks. The Korean Empire remains the issuing political authority in the modeled issues.
| Facility | Korean | Type | Location | Jurisdiction | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeonhwanguk (Mint Bureau) | 전환국 | state-mint-bureau-and-production-network | Korean facilities including the documented Incheon operation | korea | 1880s–1904 framework |
| Osaka Mint | 오사카 조폐국 | foreign-contract-producing-mint | Osaka, Japan | japan | Korean contract production documented 1906–1909 |
| Production record | Issuer | Mint | Years | Contract context | Identity rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kr-ke-production-osaka-gold | kr-authority-korean-empire | kr-ke-mint-osaka | 1906–1909 | foreign production within a Japanese financial-administration context | Producing mint does not replace the Korean Empire issuing authority or Korea canonical country. |
Representative evidence
Object status and quantity qualifiers stay visible
These records test silver domestic production and gold foreign production. They are research objects, not automatically public issue pages.
| Issue | Year | Denomination | Metal | Weight | Mint | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kr-ke-issue-5-yang-1892 | 1892 | kr-ke-denom-5-yang | silver .900 | 26.8 g | kr-ke-mint-jeonhwanguk | 19923 — Bank of Korea object record reports pieces; independent ledger reconciliation pending |
| kr-ke-issue-5-won-1908 | 1908 | kr-ke-denom-5-won-gold | gold 90%, copper 10% | 4.2 g | kr-ke-mint-osaka | part of documented gold production; issue-level quantity not asserted here |
Conflicts and unknowns
Unresolved claims block issue publication
Gold circulation, financial intermediaries, and mintmarks remain explicitly qualified.
| Field | Claim A | Claim B | Resolution | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| issuer versus custodian or financial intermediary | Korean Empire is canonical issuing political authority | Some museum descriptions foreground the First Bank in issue/custody context | Store financial intermediary and custody context separately from sovereign issuer and producing mint. | No issue page until authority wording is reviewed. |
| gold issue circulation | Gold denominations were legally established and struck | Museum record states most were held and later recovered | Distinguish authorized, manufactured, held, issued, and circulated quantities. | Gold routes remain noindex. |
| mintmark attribution | Catalog traditions assign marks to facilities | Institutional register here does not yet verify a universal mapping | Retain an unresolved mark record and do not publish mark-based issue pages. | No mintmark-derived issue routes. |
Continue browsing
Related Korea encyclopedia routes
All routes retain independent evidence and publication gates.
Retain the original era inscription while converting legible Gwangmu and Yunghui dates to Gregorian years.
empire mints Korean Empire Mints and FacilitiesIssuing authority, production authority, Korean facility, foreign facility, and mintmark evidence are displayed independently.
empire foreign production Foreign Production of Korean Empire CoinsOsaka production is a manufacturing relationship, not a reassignment of Korean coin identity.
empire metal Korean Empire Copper and Bronze CoinsCopper and bronze subsidiary issues across changing unit systems, with alloy claims tied to individual sources.
empire metal Korean Empire Nickel and Cupronickel CoinsCupronickel reform coinage and the fiscal problems of overissued subsidiary money.
empire metal Korean Empire Silver CoinsYang- and won-system silver denominations with issue-specific fineness, weight, facility, and production evidence.
empire metal Korean Empire Gold CoinsGold-standard coinage with legal authorization, manufacture, custody, issue, and circulation treated as separate evidence states.
empire patterns Korean Empire Trials and PatternsA gated research register separating proposed, trial, pattern, manufactured, and circulating objects.
empire transition From Korean Empire Coinage to Colonial CurrencyA transition account that preserves Korean institutional agency and issue identity while documenting the loss of monetary sovereignty.
empire grading Grading Korean Empire CoinsMetal-specific grading separates wear, strike, planchet, cleaning, corrosion, and casting or machine-production artifacts.
empire authentication Authenticating Korean Empire CoinsCheck weight, diameter, alloy, edge, era inscription, denomination, mint evidence, and alteration without authenticating from an image alone.
empire collecting Collecting Korean Empire CoinsCollect by reform system, denomination, metal, era, or verified mint relationship while treating scarce gold and patterns conservatively.
Sources
Institutional evidence for this page
Source links support the stated scope; they do not license unsourced varieties, market values, or image reuse beyond recorded terms.
Coins of the Late Joseon and Korean Empire
national-museum · 2026-07-31
Open sourceThe First Three Gold Coins of the Korean Empire
official-museum · 2026-07-31
Open sourceUnknown dates, mintages, annual manufacturing, attributions, legal status, and image identity remain unavailable. They never become zero or a confident claim. No market prices are published in this foundation.