Wednesday, September 16, 2009

O-Man Won

Remember how I used to say/complain how the highest bill in Korea was the 10,000 won note, which, relatively speaking, is equivalent to about ten dollars? Well, not anymore, baby. Czech this out:


This bill made its debut on June 23, making it the first new issuance of currency in Korea in 73 years (when the 10k bill was introduced), according to Korea.net. It took a year to design it. The chick on the one side is the famous Korean writer, calligrapher, and artist Shim Saimdang (1504-1551), and is the first woman to be pictured on Korean money. The other side shows the image of a famous painting she did of some grapes and branches. I see it, but it looks more like a ship to me. Shin Saimdang's son, a famous Confucian scholar, is on the 5,000 won note.


I'm not sure how good your monitor's color is, but you're right to notice how similar the colors of the FIVE thousand won bill and the FIFTY thousand won bill are. Coincidence? I sense a scam here. At least the pictures are drastically different, and the sizes, though less noticeable, also vary among all the bills.