South Korea 1983 1,000-won varieties reported

Color varieties for South Korea 1,000-won (US$0.85) note (Pick 47) from 1983 have recently been reported. Specifically, it appears that the portrait on the front and the buildings on the back are purple on one variety, and brown on the other variety. Furthermore, on the “purple” variety, the numerals 1000 at lower right on back are blue, whereas they are purple on the “brown” variety. Finally, the engraving or printing on the “brown” variety appears sharper than the “purple” variety, though there are no other differences in the text, underprinting, watermarks, or other security features.

The scans below were created at the same time, so the color variations are not a result of differences in the equipment. Collectors are encouraged to examine their notes and report if they can verify these differences on other examples. Also, I would appreciate hearing from collectors who can determine which of these notes came first based upon their serial number prefixes.

Purple Brown

Purple
Brown

Courtesy of Kevin Klauss.