The Korean won ( , ) or Korean Empire won (), was the official currency of the Korean Empire between 1900 and 1910. It was subdivided into 100 jeon ( ; , ).
Etymology
Won <!-- (pronounced like the English word "one")--> is a cognate of the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen, which were both derived from the Spanish-American silver dollar. It is derived from the hanja (, won), meaning "round", which describes the shape of the silver dollar.
History
The Korean won, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen were all derived from the Spanish-American silver dollar, a coin widely used for international trade between Asia and the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries.
On May 22, 1901 the Korean Empire adopted the gold standard in response to many other countries doing the same. The won was introduced in 1902, replacing the yang at a rate of 1 won = 10 yang. Units: 1 won = 100 jeon (錢), 1 jeon = 5 bun (分, "fun" ec. yesteryear spellings) of the preceding currency. Gold coins were produced in the denominations of 5, 10, and 20 won. All of these coins had a composition of 90% gold and 10% copper. Another notable feature of these coins is that they, unlike the earlier yang coinage, contained no English inscriptions as they only contained Chinese and Hangul legends.
As a part of the Russian influence in Korea at the time, the Koreans introduced a small number of "Russified" coins between the years 1901 and 1902, but these coins would prove to be unsuccessful as they were swept away by the flood of cupronickel coins.
The disagreements between the Japanese and Russian Empires led to the Russo-Japanese War when Japan attacked Port Arthur in Russian Dalian and Incheon in Korea, the war ended in a Japanese victory, Japan occupied the Kwantung Leased Territory and the Korean peninsula. When Megata arrived in Korea, he told Sir John Newell Jordan, the British Minister-Resident in Korea at the time, that the Japanese protectorate over Korea was being modeled on British rule in Egypt. One of the first recommendations by Baron Megata was to close all Korean Mints and commence a reform of the Korean currency. One of the primary policies he proposed was removing the cupronickel coins from circulation.
After 1908, circulation of the old cupronickel coins was outlawed by the imperial Korean government, while the cast copper-alloy cash coins remained to be legal tender in Korea at a value of 0.2 jeon, which meant that they had a nominal value of won.
| 95% copper,<br />4% tin,<br />1% zinc
| 21.9<br /><small>(1906)</small><br />19.1<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 3.4<br /><small>(1906)</small><br />2.1<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 1.5<br /><small>(1906)</small><br />1<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 1906–1910
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 1 jeon<br />(一錢)
| 98% copper,<br />1% tin,<br />1% zinc
| 28<br /><small>(1905–1906)</small><br />22.5<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 7.1<br /><small>(1905–1906)</small><br />4.1<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 1.5<br /><small>(1905–1906)</small><br />1<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 1905–1910
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 5 jeon<br />(五錢)
| Cupronickel<br />(75% copper and 25% nickel)
| 20.8 || 4 || 2 || 1905, 1907, and 1909
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 10 jeon<br>(十錢)
|rowspan="3"| 800‰ silver,<br />200‰ copper
| 17.6 || 2.5,<br />2.25<br /><small>(1907 only)</small> || 1.5 || 1906–1910
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 20 jeon<br>(二十錢)
| 22.8<br /><small>(1905–1906)</small><br />20.3<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 5.4<br /><small>(1905–1906)</small><br />4<br /><small>(1907–1910)</small> || 1.5 || 1905–1910
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan = "2"| 100px
| won<br>(半圜)
| 31<br /><small>(1905–1906)</small><br />27.5<br /><small>(1907–1908)</small> || 13.5<br /><small>(1905–1906)</small><br />10.13<br /><small>(1907–1908)</small> || 2 || 1905–1908
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 5 won<br>(五圜)
|rowspan=3| 900‰ gold,<br />100‰ copper
| 17 || 4.1666 || 1 || 1908–1909
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 10 won<br />(十圜)
| 21.2 || 8.3 || 1.5 || 1906 and 1909
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan = "2"|100px
| 20 won<br>(二十圜)
| 28.8 || 16.667 || 2 || 1906, 1908, and 1909
|}
Rare coins
- There is some question as to whether or not any jeon coins were minted in the year Gwangmu 11.
| 98% copper,<br />1% tin,<br />1% zinc
| 28 || 8 || || rowspan="2" | 1902<br />(光武六年)
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 5 jeon<br />(五錢)
| Cupronickel<br />(75% copper,<br />25% nickel)
| 20.5 || 5.4 ||
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| won<br />(半圜)
| 90% silver,<br />10% copper
| 30.9 || 13.5 || 2 || 1901<br />(光武五年)
|}
List of unissued Korean "Eagle" pattern coins:
| rowspan="2" | Copper
| || || || 1903<br />(光武七年)
|-
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
|align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff"| 50px
| 20 won<br />(二十圜)
| || || || 1902<br />(光武六年)
|}
Rare Korean "Eagle" coins
- A specimen of a 1 jeon Korean "Eagle" coin dated 1902 (光武六年) sold at an auction for $149,500 in September 2011.