Korean mun

Sangpyeong Tongbo

10 mun stamp of 1884, displaying abbreviation M^N.

The mun was introduced as the main currency of Korea in 1633 and stayed in use until 1892. It resembled and was derived from the Chinese wen (cognate also to the Japanese mon, Ryukyuan mon, and the Vietnamese văn). Coins denominated in mun were cast in copper or bronze and were round with square holes. From the 17th century until the end of the 19th century, coins denominated in mun bearing the inscription Sangpyeong Tongbo (상평통보, 常平通寶) were the most widely circulated currency. In 1888, coins were struck in small numbers denominated in mun and won (equal to 1000 mun). The mun was replaced in 1892 when the yang was introduced.

History

Under Goryeo

A Samhan Tongbo (三韓通寶, 삼한통보) and a Samhan Jungbo (三韓重寶, 삼한중보) inside of the National Museum of Korea.

The first definitive record of currency use in Korea appears in the Goryeo period (918–1392).^[1] Early in that period, even though some imported Chinese currency from the Song, and Tang dynasties were in circulation, commodity currency such as grain and linen continued in general circulation. In the 10th and 11th centuries, iron and copper coins along with silver vase-shaped coins were issued, but never widely circulated.^[2]

King Sukjong of Goryeo created a new monetary system based on round copper coins with square holes as well as the unbyŏng (銀瓶, 은병) shaped like the Korean peninsula. The coins were produced bearing the inscriptions 東國 (동국/Dong guk or "Eastern Country"), 海東 (해동/hae dong or "Eastern Sea"), and 三韓 (삼한/Samhan).^[3]

An extremely rare variant of the Samhan Tongbo (삼한통보, 三韓通寶) coin exists that bears the character 叁 written in "official script" instead of 三, of which only 2 have currently been found.^[3]

Inscription	Hangul	McCune–Reischauer	Revised Romanisation	Scripts	Date of casting	Image
東國通寶	동국통보	Dong kuk T'ong Bo	Dong Guk Tong Bo	Seal script (篆書), Clerical script (隸書), Regular script (楷書), and Running script (行書)	998-1097 AD
東國重寶	동국중보	Dong Kuk Chung Bo	Dong Guk Jung Bo	Regular script (楷書)	998-1097 AD
三韓通寶	삼한통보	Sam Han T'ong Bo	Sam Han Tong Bo	Seal script (篆 書), Clerical script (隸書) and Running script (行書)	1097-1105 AD
叁韓通寶	삼한통보	Sam Han T'ong Bo	Sam Han Tong Bo	"Official Script"	1097-1105 AD
三韓重寶	삼한중보	Sam Han Chung Bo	Sam Han Jung Bo	Regular script (楷書)	1097-1105 AD
海東通寶	해동통보	Hae Dong T'ong Bo	Hae Dong Tong Bo	Seal script (篆書), Clerical script (隸書), Regular script (楷書), and Running script (行書)	1097-1105 AD
海東重寶	해동중보	Hae Dong Chung Bo	Hae Dong Jung Bo	Regular script (楷書)	1097-1105 AD
海東元寶	해동원보	Hae Dong Wŏn Bo	Hae Dong Won Bo	Regular script (楷書)	1097-1105 AD

Early Joseon

A Joseon Tongbo (朝鮮通寶) coin.

It was not until the beginning of the Joseon period (1392–1910) that copper coins were minted for wide circulation. Jeohwa (저화/楮貨), which was made of standardized mulberry-bark paper early in the Joseon period, become the first legal paper money and was used as a medium of exchange in place of coins until it disappeared in the early 16th century.

Bronze coins were cast starting in 1423 during the reign of king Sejong the Great in 1423 with the Joseon Tongbo (조선통보, 朝鮮通寶), and Shibjeon Tongbo (십전통보, 十錢通寶) coins.^[4][3] The coins produced under Sejong were pegged to silver at 150 coins to one Kŭn (斤, 근) which is equal to 600 grams, though the actual market rates regularly fluctuated. But the monetary system proved to be unpopular as people resorted back to barter after a few years.

In 1625 under the reign of king Injo of Joseon new coins with the same inscription as under Sejong the Great were minted, these coins became the inspiration for the following Sangpyeong Tongbo series, though later these coins would be suspended due to the Later Jin, and the Qing invasions of Joseon. After those wars Korea would become dependent on importing copper from Japan in order to sustain the production of coinage.^[5]

Sangpyeong Tongbo coins

Various coins from Goryeo, and Joseon with mostly different Sangpyeong Tongbo from small to large denominations. Note that some of the coins at the top are Ryukyuan mon coins.

Coins issued by a government famine relief organisation named the "Stabilization Office" (Sangpyeongchong 상평청, 常平廳) were introduced in 1633, the coins bear an abbreviation of the office's name with the phrase Tongbo (통보/"通寶" or circulating treasure) together formulating the inscription Sangpyeong Tongbo (상평통보, 常平通寶) which could be interpreted as "always even currency".^[3] These coins started to circulate all over Joseon in 1678 during the reign of king Sukjong of Joseon.

Unlike earlier minted coins from the Georyo period, no mun currency produced under the Joseon dynasty bore the inscription Jungbo (元寶, 원보) on any large denomination because a Chinese naming taboo where the character "元" (Hangul: 원) may not be used as it was a part of Hongwu's original name, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, of which Joseon was a tributary state. For this reason even all 100 mun coins also bear the inscription of "常平通寶", giving every coin from this period exactly the same observe.

As records weren't actively kept it's currently unknown how many different variants were cast, and how much of each respective denomination (with the notable exception of the 100 mun coin, of which a total of 1,784,038 were minted).^[6] There are 3,078 varieties of the 1, 2, and 5 Mun denominations, and 48 varieties of the 100 Mun denomination documented by the authoritative Korean coin catalogue (Hanja: 高麗朝鮮時代貨幣; Hangul: 고여조선시대화폐), while there are estimated more than 5,000 different variants of the Sangpyeong Tongbo coins cast in the history of its production spanning 258 years, with many variants of the series still undocumented.

Denomination	Hanja	Hangul	Diameter (in millimeter)	Dates	Notes
1 mun	一文	일문	24-25	1633
2 mun	二文	이문	27-29	1679
5 mun	五文	오문	31-33	1883	Contains the inscription "當五錢" (당오전).
100 mun	百文	백문	40.6	12 December 1866 (Date of first mint by the Treasury Department of the Joseon government.) 15 January 1867 (Date that circulation among the general populace began.) 16 June 1867 (Date that the production of these coins by the government of Joseon had ceased.)	100 mun coins are the only accurately documented denomination of which records exist. All of the government produced 100 mun coins always had a thickness of 2.8 millimeter and a weight of 25.1 grams. These coins were produced a total of 172 days from the date of first production to their discontinuation.

Mint marks

A coin issued by the Rice and Cloth Department (宣惠廳) containing the mint mark "惠".

Originally the Stabilization Office or the Sangpyeongchŏng (상평청, 常平廳) was the first agency to mint Sangpyeong Tongbo coins in 1633, and eventually various other government agencies (including military offices, and the Six Ministries of Joseon) began to produce these coins which contained various mint marks to establish their origin.^[3] At the time the mun was replaced by the yang in 1892 there had been 52 government mints in operation producing mun coins locally.^[11]

Mint mark	Hangul	Name of the agency in Hanja	Name of the agency in Hangul	Romanised	Name in English	Year introduced	Image
戶	호	戶曹	호조	Hojo	Treasury Department	1678
工	공	工曹	공조	Kongjo	Ministry of Industry	1685
均	균	均役廳	균역청	Kyunyokchong	Government Tithe Office	1807
司	사	司仆寺	사부사	Kyong Saboksi	Bureau of Royal Transportation	1678
賑	진	賑恤廳	진휼청	Chinhyulchong	Charity Office in Seoul	1742
向	향	粮餉廳	량향청	Yanghyangchong	Food Supply Office	1742
宣	선	宣惠廳	선혜청	Sonhyechong	Rice and Cloth Department	1742
惠	혜	宣惠廳	선혜청	Sonhyechong	Rice and Cloth Department	1806
典	전	典圜局	전원국	Chonhwanguk	Central Government Mint	1833
兵	병	兵曹	병조	Pyongjo	Ministry of Military Affairs	1742
備	비	備邊司	비변사	Pibyonsa	National Defense Bureau	1742
捻	염	捻戎廳	염융청	Chongyungchong	General Military Office	1692
营 or 營	영	御营廳	어영청	Oyongchong	Special Army Unit	1678
武 (1)	무 (1)	武備司	무비사	Mubisa	Armaments Bureau	1742
武 (2)	무 (2)	武衛營	무위영	Muwiyong	Guard Office at the Palace	1742
禁	금	禁衛營	금위영	Kumwiyong	Court Guard Military Unit	1742
訓	훈	訓練都監	훈연도감	Hullyondogam	Military Training Command	1678
抄	초	精抄廳	정초청	Chongchochong	Commando Military Unit	1678
統 (1)	통 (1)	統營	통영	Tongyŏng	Tongyeong Naval Office	1727
統 (2)	통 (2)	統衛營	통위영	Tongwiyong	Military Office in Seoul	1727
經	경	經理廳	경리청	Kyŏngnichong	Government Office of Pukhan Mountain Fortress	1830
守	수	守御廳	수어청	Suochong	Seoul Defense Fort	1742
沁	심	沁華管理	심화관이	Sim Kanghwa Kwalliyong	Kanghwa Township Military Office	1883
開	개	開城管理營	개성관이영	Kaesong Kwalliyong	Kaesong Township Military Office	1678
松	송	開城管理營	개성관이영	Kaesong Kwalliyong	(Song) Kaesong Township Military Office	1882
利	리	利原管理營	리원관이영	Iwon Kwalliyong	Iwon Township Military Office	1882
水	수	水原管理營	수원관이영	Suwon Kalliyong	Suwon Township Military Office	1727
原	원	原州管理營	원주관이영	Wonju Kwalliyong	Wonju Township Military Office	1678
海	해	海州管理營	해주관이영	Haeju Kwalliyong	Haeju Township Military Office	1742
春	춘	春川管理營	춘천관이영	Ch'unch'on Kwalliyong	Ch'unch'on Township Military Office	1888
川	천	端川管理營	단천관이영	Tanch'on Kwalliyong	Tanch'on Township Military Office	1883
昌 (1)	창 (1)	昌德宮	창덕궁	Ch'angdŏk Kung	Ch'angdŏk Palace Mint	1864
昌 (2)	창 (2)	昌原管理營	창원관이영	Ch'angwon Kwalliyong	Ch'angwon Township Military Office	1864
圻	기	廣州管理營	광주관이영	Kwangju Kwalliyong	Kwangju Township Military Office in Kyonggi Province	1742
京	경	京畿監營	경기감영	Kyŏnggi Kamyong	Kyŏnggi Provincial Office	1742
京 水	경수	京畿水營	경기수영	Kyŏnggi Suyong	Kyŏnggi Naval Station	1742
黃	황	黃海監營	황해감영	Hwanghae Kamyong	Hwanghae Provincial Office	1742
平	평	平安監營	평안감영	P'yŏngan Kamyong	P'yŏngan Provincial Office	1678
平 兵	평병	平安兵營	평안병영	P'yŏngan Pyongyong	P'yŏngan Military Fort	1678
咸	함	咸鏡監營	함경감영	Hamgyong Kamyong	Hamyong Provincial Office	1742
咸 北	함북	咸鏡北營	함경북영	Hamgyong Pugyong	North Hamyong Provincial Office	1742
咸 南	함남	咸鏡南營	함경남영	Hamgyong Namyong	South Hamyong Provincial Office	1742
江	강	江原監營	강원감영	Kangwon Kamyong	Kangwon Provincial Office	1742
尚	상	慶尚監營	경상감영	Kyongsang Kamyong	Kyongsang Provincial Office	1695
尚 水	상수	慶尚水營	경상수영	Kyongsang Suyong	Kyongsang Naval Station	1695
尚 右	상우	慶尚右營	경상우영	Kyongsang Uyong	Kyongsang Right Naval Base	1695
尚 左	상좌	慶尚左營	경상좌영	Kyongsang Chwayong	Kyongsang Left Naval Base	1695
全	전	全羅監營	전라감영	Chŏlla Kamyong	Chŏlla Provincial Office	1682
全 兵	전병	全羅兵營	전라병영	Chŏlla Pyongyong	Chŏlla Military Fort	1678
全 右	전우	全羅右營	전라우영	Chŏlla Uyong	Chŏlla Right Naval Base	1678
全 左	전좌	全羅左營	전라좌영	Chŏlla Chwayong	Chŏlla Left Naval Base	1678
忠	충	忠清監營	충청감영	Ch'ungch'ŏng Kamyong	Ch'ungch'ŏng Provincial Office	1742

Various other symbols to identify specific coins were also used such as the Thousand Character Classic, "furnace" and "series" numbers, as the Five Elements, astronomical symbols, the Eight Trigrams, the Ten Celestial Stems, the Twelve Terrestrial Branches, as well as a variety of characters with an unknown purpose. Mint marks were placed above the square hole on the reverse site, while furnace markings and other Chinese characters were placed below, special symbols such as dots, circles, crescents, horizontal lines, and vertical lines generally appeared either left or right of the square hole.^[3]

With the notable exception of the coins produced by the Government Office of Pukhan Mountain Fortress which bears the character "Kyŏng" (經/경) written in Running script, all Hanja characters on both sides of every Sangpyeong Tongbo coin are written in regular script. Though the character "通" (통) only contains one dot which is a characteristic of Clerical script as Regular script versions usually have 2 dots.

See also

• Chinese wen
• Vietnamese văn
• Japanese mon
• Ryukyuan mon
• Korean numismatic charm

References

Sources

• Kurt Schuler (2004-02-29). Tables of modern monetary history: Asia. Currency Boards and Dollarization.

• Wybrand op den Velde and David Hartill (12 November 2013) Cast Korean Coins and Charms. New Generation Publishing. ISBN 978-0755215942.

• Alan D. Craig, and Mario L. Sacripante. The Coins of Korea and an Outline of Early Chinese Coinages. Publisher: Ishi Press International. Published: 5 April 2011. ISBN 4871878953

External links

• Currency Museum of Korea (화폐박물관)
• A Sangp'yŏng t'ongbo (常平通寶) owned by the British Museum

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