Joseon Tongbo

The Joseon Tongbo (Korean: 조선통보; Hanja: 朝鮮通寶) was an inscription used on Korean cash coins during the Joseon period first from 1423 until 1425 and later again from 1625 until 1633. Initially the attempt to introduce coinage to Korea proved unsuccessful as had been the case when the Goryeo state had attempted to issue its own coinage centuries earlier. But during the second attempt the Korean economy had evolved to become more reliant on trade and the need for coinage began to challenge the prevalence of barter in Korean society. In the year 1633 the Stabilisation Office (常平廳, Sangpyeongchŏng) introduced the Sangpyeong Tongbo (상평통보, 常平通寶) cash coins whose popularity would cause the Joseon Tongbo inscription to be phased out.

In the year 1881 the Korean government experimented with producing high denomination Joseon Tongbo cash coins, however, these were never issued.