North Korea P-30a.1 50 Won 1988—Green "Capitalist Visitor"—Chŏllima—Coat of Arms

A rare Cold War relic from one of the world's most secretive states — a banknote issued exclusively for capitalist visitors to the DPRK, in a parallel currency system designed to keep foreign exchange separate from the domestic economy.

Front

• Colors: green background; dark green engraving; light green accents
• Stylized nuclear power symbol
• Winged equestrian statue Chŏllima in Pyongyang
• National Coat of Arms
• Inscriptions in Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국 무역은행 외화와바꾼돈표 오십원 1988 (Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Foreign currency exchange, Fifty Won)

Back

• Colors: green background; dark green engraving
• Denomination in Hangul: 오십원 (Fifty Won)
• Inscriptions: 조선민주주의인민공화국 무역은행 50

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: you may receive any variety:
  • P-30a.1 — Green, Capitalist Visitor issue — this note
  • P-30a.2 — Purple, issued during the Pyongyang Cultural Festival 1995
• Catalog numbers: P-30a.1; Numista N#204264
• Watermark: Chŏllima horse
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 140 × 70 mm
• Issuing entity: Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (조선민주주의인민공화국무역은행)
• Demonetized: 1992
• Currency: Second Won (1959–2009)

A Currency for Capitalists Only

North Korea operated a dual currency system during the Cold War era. Ordinary citizens used the domestic won, while foreign visitors — especially those from capitalist countries — were required to exchange their hard currency for special Foreign Exchange Certificates (외화와바꾼돈표). These notes circulated only in designated hard-currency shops (called Rakwon stores) inaccessible to ordinary North Koreans. The green series was specifically issued for capitalist-country visitors, while a separate red series served socialist-bloc tourists. It's a physical artifact of the ideological wall that divided not just nations, but currencies.

The Chŏllima — North Korea's Mythic Stallion

The Chŏllima (천리마, "thousand-li horse") is a legendary winged horse from East Asian mythology capable of covering 400 km in a single day — a creature so swift no rider could mount it. Kim Il-sung adopted it as the symbol of the Chŏllima Movement launched in 1956, North Korea's answer to the Soviet Stakhanovite movement, urging workers to superhuman feats of socialist production. The bronze statue on this note stands atop the Chŏllima Statue monument in Pyongyang, erected in 1961, where a worker and a peasant woman ride the horse skyward — a permanent fixture of DPRK iconography.

Own This Piece of the Hermit Kingdom

This P-30a.1 in Very Fine condition is a genuine artifact of North Korea's parallel economy — a note that once changed hands only within the tightly controlled world of DPRK hard-currency commerce. Few outsiders ever held one legally. Now you can.

Condition: Very Fine (VF). A well-circulated note with sharp design elements and good color. Ships securely in a protective sleeve.

About North Korea

• Origin of name: "Korea" derives from the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392); "North" distinguishes it from South Korea following the 1945 partition. The country's official name, Chosŏn (조선), references the earlier Joseon dynasty (1392–1897).
• Capital: Pyongyang — city pop. ~3.1 million; metro pop. ~3.3 million (est.).
  • Origin of name: Pyongyang (평양) means "flat land" or "level ground" in Korean, describing the flat terrain of the Taedong River basin.
• Population: ~26 million (UN est.) — comparable to Texas
• Area: 120,538 km² (46,541 mi²) — slightly larger than Pennsylvania; similar to Greece
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$1,800 (est.; no official data)
• Main exports: Coal, iron ore, zinc, copper, textiles, seafood (largely via China despite UN sanctions)
• Borders: China (north), Russia (northeast), South Korea (south, DMZ)
• Official/spoken language: Korean
• Ethnicities: Korean (~100%)
• Memberships: United Nations (joined 1991, simultaneously with South Korea); Non-Aligned Movement (joined 1975)
• Sovereignty:
  • Ancient Korean kingdoms (Gojoseon, Three Kingdoms, Goryeo, Joseon)
  • Japanese annexation (1910–1945)
  • Soviet occupation of the north / US occupation of the south (1945–1948)
  • Democratic People's Republic of Korea proclaimed (1948) — Kim Il-sung as leader
  • Korean War (1950–1953) — armistice, no peace treaty; technically still at war with South Korea
  • Kim Il-sung era (1948–1994); Kim Jong-il (1994–2011); Kim Jong-un (2011–date) — this note issued during the Kim Il-sung era

North Korea Unfiltered

• Juche ideology: North Korea's state philosophy of self-reliance (주체) was codified by Kim Il-sung and is enshrined in the constitution — it effectively replaces Marxism-Leninism as the official guiding doctrine.
• Songbun system: Citizens are classified into 51 loyalty categories (songbun) based on their family's political history going back three generations, determining where they can live, work, and study.
• Largest stadium on Earth: The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang holds 114,000 people — the largest stadium in the world by capacity.
• No internet: Ordinary citizens have no access to the global internet; instead they use Kwangmyong, a domestic intranet with state-approved content only.
• Famine of the 1990s: The Arduous March (고난의 행군) famine of 1994–1998 killed an estimated 240,000 to 3.5 million people — a staggering range reflecting the near-total opacity of DPRK data.
• Parallel time zone: From 2015 to 2018, North Korea operated on Pyongyang Time (UTC+8:30), a unique half-hour offset created to symbolize independence from Japan — then quietly abandoned.