Etymology of The Korean Currencies - History

History

Due to interchanging Chinese influences, changing Romanization methods, and the use of both hanja (Sino-Korean characters) and hangul scripts, the etymology can be hard to understand. The table below summarizes the language used on the modern circulating and historical Korean currencies.

Period Subunit Main unit Super unit Note
English Hanja Hangul Ratio English Hanja Hangul English Hanja Hangul Ratio
1892-1902 fun 分 푼 1/100 yang 兩 냥 hwan 圜 환 5
1902-1910 chon 錢 전 1/100 won 圓 원 None 1 won = 5 yang of the previous period
1902-1945 sen 錢 N/A 1/100 yen 圓 N/A None 1 yen = 1 won = 5 yang
Due to Colonial era, the English transliterations were based on Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters.
North Korea
1945-present		 chon 錢 전 1/100 won 圓 원 None 1 won = 1 yen in 1945
1 new won = 1 old won in 1959.
Use of Hanja disappeared after 1959
South Korea
1945-1953		 chon 錢 전 1/100 won 圓 원 None 1 won = 1 yen
South Korea
1953-1962		 chon 錢 전 1/100 hwan 圜 환 None 1 hwan = 100 won of the previous perioud
South Korea
1962-present		 jeon 錢 전 1/100 won N/A 원 None 1 won = 10 hwan of the previous period

In the brief period when the yang was used, 1 hwan/won (圜 = 圓 in Chinese) = 5 yang (兩), while in the Chinese monetary system of that time, 1 yuan (圓) = 0.72 tael (兩).

Read more about this topic:  Etymology Of The Korean Currencies

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