A complete set of North Korean notes with overprints has recently been reported. Unfortunately, little is known about these notes other than that they appear to be the latest issued notes (dates range from 1992 to 2007) with a common overprint in Korean and the Western numerals 95. The literal translation of the overprint is “Great leader Kim Ilsung comrade birth 95th.” Since he was born April 15, 1912, his 95th birthday would have been celebrated in 2007. This seems to fit the latest date on the notes, but does not necessarily mean the notes were issued in 2007. If anyone knows the actual date of introduction, please send me an email so that I can share that information. Also, I’d be interested to learn if these were issued for circulation, or if they were sold only as a numismatic product in special packaging.

Courtesy of Jim Rubycored Chen and Wonsik Kang.

Tags: North Korea