My counterfeit North Korean banknote 🇰🇵

[@leopardknowledge.1430]

For the past few days I've been watching all of your videos they are absolutely

[@FredoRockwell]

Oh wow! Thanks so much! Not all of them are, of course. The early ones are pretty rough. 😧

[@connormacleod6132]

Thank You For sharing this Video

[@0hPhuc]

Very informative video! Thanks. I have been collecting some of these banknotes too.

[@FredoRockwell]

Really? Which ones do you have? And are yours all real?

[@0hPhuc]

@@FredoRockwell I have the following - year Item Name Features 1978 North Korea 1 Won 1978 North Korea 1 won 1992 North Korea 5000 Won Kim Il-sung 1992 North Korea 50 won 1998 North Korea 5 won students 2002 North Korea 5 won 2002 North Korea 50 won 2002 North Korea 10 won 2007 North Korea 500 Won Mausoleum 2008 North Korea 200 Won horse 2008 North Korea 100 Won flowers 2018 North Korea 200 Won 70th anniversary overstamp 2018 North Korea 2000 Won 70th anniversary overstamp 2018 North Korea 1000 Won 70th anniversary overstamp 2018 North Korea 500 Won 70th anniversary overstamp 2019 North Korea 5000 won Architecture, Art, Crops, Mosaic, Theatre 2019 North Korea 5000 Won 70th anniversary overstamp I think they are all genuine - watermarks etc.

[@FredoRockwell]

@@0hPhuc Wow, what a collection! It sounds like they're all genuine too, or at least nothing like the fake one I had. My fake only looks real until you touch it or holds it up to the light. Which is your favourite?

[@herodotus6235]

The 1978 series is the most attractive, with the best colour palette and most interesting images.

[@moonam8389]

Always wondered about North Korean money!

[@FredoRockwell]

I know I make fun of several of these banknotes for being really dull, but I was actually expecting them to be even more dull than they were. So, I guess I was pleasantly surprised!

[@Mach-ow7dx]

Great video. I just bought some North Korean currency recently. It’s very interesting.

[@FredoRockwell]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. It's certainly a fascinating currency!

[@mershmerchant]

I purchased several denominations and even a x100 stack of 5000 won off eBay years ago when they were still allowed (through Chinese sellers.) I’ve always been curious of their “authenticity”, but agree they’re interesting regardless. I appreciate the descriptions!

[@FredoRockwell]

Glad your liked it! And nice to meet another owner of North Korean currency!

[@NoaCharles]

I have a similar one won, but mine says 'copy' printed across it. I have a fairly large collection of North Korean things (banknotes and stamps etc). These books are sold to tourists in North Korea. I purchased one from a Chinese citizen. As you said Mount Paetku is incredibly important to the Korean People. It's actually a volcano, and very active earthquake wise. The lake that you showed is Heaven Lake with is at the base of Mount Paektu, which is a massive caldera. Heaven Lake is very important to both North and South Korea, I know as a diplomatic mission South Korean leaders or diplomats went and took water from the lake (Or were given water from the lake as a gift?). It is even claimed the ice cracked and an earthquake happened when Kim Jong-Il died.

[@FredoRockwell]

Crikey! I wish I'd know that story! Thanks for the detail! I do wonder if my 1 won was made as some sort of demo product, but it certainly doesn't say anything about it being a copy on it. Also, thanks for confirming the origen of the book itself. I assumed it was such a souvenir until I found the fake, and then I started doubting everything. Thank you for watching!

[@leopardknowledge.1430]

Fantastic

[@DasOfficialCurrency]

Beautiful banknotes 🤝🤝🤝🇮🇳❤🇮🇳

[@moonam8389]

Is the library of Congress like the British Library? I've heard of the Libray of Congress before but never understood what it"s for

[@FredoRockwell]

In terms of cultural significance, yes the LOC and the British Library play similar roles. I'm not sure it's official policy, but the LOC does tend to have a copy of nearly every published book in the world and it is very common for books in America to have a LOC catalogue number printed in the opening pages. I believe the LOC was founded by the US Congress, hence the name, but it's not limited to use by Congress at all. Anyone can go in and check things out, just like the BL.

[@moonam8389]

@@FredoRockwell Ah, I see. I'm pretty sure BL tries to do this (or maybe just all British book?s) and I've only ever seen ot on TV programmes with historical records.

[@saw7191]

Don’t worry! Fake North Korean money is worth just as much as real North Korean money!

[@FredoRockwell]

I can't disagree with you on that one. Actually, to me it is even more valuable. Anything that nonsensical has to be treasured.

[@Ramchu8832]

in north korea, citezens arent able to counterfeit currency meaning they dont check to see if its real or not, im going to assume they grabbed a random note not knowing it was counterfeit because they dont check currency, put a stamp on it and shipped it to china, i do guarentee though all of the other notes are real (mabye, if you check them) all of them should contain a watermark, trust me i also own north korean won, and some of them also contain raised ink too. and in china, specifically near a market near the Dandong border between north korea and china, north korea allows banknotes to be sold because its a way of commemorating something and whatever. so thats probably what you got, something from one of those markets, they sell other things too like books, flags, and whatever, i think theres even a market in beijing china, where you can exchange chinese yuan and other currency for north korean won, and on the display they have like stacks of that stuff but yeah i hope this explains why the 1 won note might be counterfeit

[@Ramchu8832]

also your pronouncing Paektu wrong, its Paek-Too! NOT Paek-KOO!!!!!

[@FredoRockwell]

Sorry!

[@FredoRockwell]

Thanks for watching and the explanation! I didn't think it was something that North Korean citizens would counterfeit for profit. I just couldn't see who anyone would bother to counterfeit such a small value banknote. They could have left it out of that collection and no one would have noticed - it was a really random collection!

[@connormacleod6132]

I was able to go to Pyongyang North Korea on a visiting tourist visa back in 2016 if you want real North Korea money I'll be happy to give it to you no strings attached I went to this privileged store in the Diplomatic compound right next to the Vietnam Embassy and when I say that the Koryo Hotel I was able to buy stamps and other things from North Korea

[@FredoRockwell]

Hello, thanks for this comment, and that's a very generous offer. I'm not planning to make a video about North Korean money again, but if I do I might ask to interview you too hear about this experience! Sounds fascinating.

[@matthiasek]

Can you make a video about the real north korean banknotes/stamps ?

[@DangerousMinds0]

AMAZING

[@connormacleod6132]

Hello To Everyone From Republic of Texas

[@Griff10poldi]

That 1 won is supposed to have a choppy Chollima watermark... Probably no watermark might be better lol

[@FredoRockwell]

My first reaction was up get annoyed. I thought, "hey, I've been cheated!" But then I realised a counterfeit was actually much more interesting than a genuine note. 😀

[@Flinnlute]

where did you buy this, because i want one haha

[@FredoRockwell]

If you look on the standard sites for buying products from Asian suppliers you should find them (assuming they're still for sale - they probably are).

[@yzwariij]

For a country like North Korea, I wouldn't think much of the lack water marks, since it's a reallt poor country, but that paper nkte doesn't look like a paper note, but more like plastic. Weird. The stamps, by the way, has the value of 50 chon. That is 0.5 won. So together they are 1.5 won.

[@FredoRockwell]

I've come across countries which were unable to continue with watermarks for their banknotes (I have banknotes like this from Zimbabwe and Nicaragua) but this was obviously not normal paper. It was shiny, but not plastic. More like the page in a magazine. Thanks so much for explaining the value of the stamps!

[@Tijjain]

Where can we buy this!?

[@FredoRockwell]

I bought mine on wish.com but be careful. I don't think they send the same selection with each order.

[@Tijjain]

@@FredoRockwell Thank you!

[@peppapigwashere3926]

The second 5,000 note is fake, the serial is zero

[@FredoRockwell]

You're right about the serial number, or what appears to be that - I just noticed. But it's a very real note in terms of texture and feel. It's not just a printed piece of paper like the 1 won note. Also, it's an overprint, which would be a very odd thing to fake. But it's at best mysterious! Thanks for pointing that out.

[@that1niceguy246]

* cough cough * still less plain notes than the euro notes * cough cough *

[@FredoRockwell]

Very true! I'm surprised no one on the EU banknote committee considered putting a lake on any of them, though. Shame, that.