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Demand for new coins for holidays wanes in Korea

Published: 05 Oct. 2025, 10:18

Coins in a cup [BANK OF KOREA]

Demand for new coins during traditional holidays has declined markedly amid reduced cash usage and rising prices, central bank data showed Sunday.

During this year's Lunar New Year holiday in January, the exchange amount for all coin denominations — 10 won (1 cent), 50 won, 100 won and 500 won — was recorded as zero, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

In comparison, the exchanged amounts for last year's Lunar New Year came to 100,000 won for 10 won coins, 500,000 won for 50 won coins, 2 million won for 100 won coins and 9 million won for 500 won coins.

“The decline is seen as linked to reduced cash usage in general. Rising prices have also affected the demand for coins,” a BOK official said.

The BOK issues new coins and banknotes ahead of traditional holidays to meet demand for holiday gifts and symbolic purposes.

On the other hand, demand for new 50,000 won banknotes has been on a constant increase recently.

From Jan. 13 to 24, when the BOK offered bill and coin exchange services ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the central bank exchanged 34.34 billion won in cash, a record high.

Of the total, 50,000 won bills accounted for the largest share at 15.86 billion won, also an all-time high and up from 14.88 billion won a year earlier.

Exchanges of 10,000 won bills, however, declined to 14.01 billion won from 14.93 billion won over the same period, the data showed.

Yonhap