Fun: Historical Korean Copper Coin and History

Illustrated Specimen Details: 5 Fun (Korean Empire)

Example Specimen: 5 fun, 1898 (Year 2 of Gwangmu)

Authority: Issued during the Korean Empire era (1897-1910) under Emperor Gojong. The date is indicated as "二" (two), referring to the second year of the Gwangmu Era, which corresponds to 1898.

Design & Inscriptions: The obverse features two mythical dragons circling the central inscription. The legend reads "5 FUN - 大韓 - 光武二年 - 오푼", displaying the denomination in Latin script, Hanja (Chinese characters), and Hangul. The reverse depicts the 5-petalled plum flower (the Imperial Seal of Korea) surrounded by a wreath of the Rose of Sharon and plum blossoms.

1. KOREA (1892-1902) — Kingdom of Joseon & Korean Empire: 1 fun = 1/10 chon = 1/100 yang.

FUN as a coin name: Despite the name, this coin has nothing to do with entertainment. The fun was a small copper fractional denomination used in Korea during its transition from a traditional monarchy to a modern empire at the end of the 19th century.

History, Etymology, and Three Scripts of the Fun

The fun represents a critical phase in Korean monetary history: the shift from ancient cash-style coins with square holes to modern, milled currency. It is a linguistic relative of the Chinese fen. Both names are written with the same character (分), which historically signifies a "fraction" or a 1/10 part.

A Trilingual Rarity

One of the most fascinating aspects of the fun is that its denomination is typically indicated in three different scripts on a single coin:

• Hanja (分): Traditional Chinese characters used for formal administration in Korea.
• Latin (FUN): Introduced to align the currency with international trade standards.
• Hangul (푼): The native Korean phonetic script. At the time, Hangul was considered "too simple" for high literature, making its appearance on official imperial coinage a significant cultural milestone.

Interestingly, while the coin uses the spelling "FUN" in Latin, the Hangul pronunciation is closer to "pun".

The Monetary System

The fun occupied the lowest tier of the new decimalized system. In the Korean hierarchy, 10 fun made up 1 chon, and 10 chon (or 100 fun) equaled 1 yang. In many ways, this mirrored the Chinese system where 10 fen equaled 1 jiao.

Historical Context

The issuance of the fun occurred in two distinct periods. The first series was struck by the Kingdom of Joseon (1892-1896). After 1897, when Korea declared itself an Empire to assert its independence from surrounding powers, a second series was issued (1898-1902) with updated imperial symbols, such as the dragon and the plum flower seal.

However, the life of the fun was short. As Japanese influence over the peninsula grew, Korea's monetary system was repeatedly reorganized, eventually leading to the disappearance of the fun in favor of currency units more closely aligned with the Japanese yen.

Numismatic Value

For collectors, the fun is a prize of East Asian numismatics. Because these copper coins were used for daily low-value transactions, they circulated heavily. Finding a specimen in high grade, where the fine details of the dragon's scales or the delicate plum blossoms are still visible, is a challenge. These coins stand as silent witnesses to Korea's brief and turbulent period as an independent Empire.