Chohung Bank Museum of Finance

This morn, I headed out to the Chohung Bank Museum of Finance with Nathan (he has a lot more pictures than I do). The Chohung Bank (조흥은행) is one of the larger bank chains here in Korea, though it is not the bank I use (KB baby!) so I was a tad nervous that Chohung goons would not allow me in. Fortunately this was not the case. They bestowed us with some free pens and let us loose in the museum.

Being a museum, I wasn't really allowed to take photos (with a flash anyhow) so the pictures did not turn out all that well. Here are a few of the better pictures I managed to snap when no one was looking.


Some safes at the enterance to the museum.


Tools of the trade.


Things that were used to barter in antiquity.


Making coins. The awesome thing about this process was the fact that the coins were attached to an antler looking chunk of copper when the were put in the mold, kind of like that plastic frame that held the Ninja Turtle action figures' weapons together in the package, but more about these coins later.


The history of the CHB logo.

The museum had little in the way English signage so it would be a little difficult for those with limited or no knowledge of Korean to understand what some of the items on display (particularly old documents) were. Even those with knowledge of Korean might run into trouble, unless they have intimate knowledge of banking and finance terms (both modern and archaic)...I don't have this knowledge, so a lot of the documents on display left me scratching my head. I did learn and retain knowledge of a couple obscure archaic words. Drum roll please...상평통보 (常平通寶) and 동국통보 (東國通寶)!

These were copper coins with holes in the center that were strung on string and were the first national currency in Korea. Prior to their creation bartering was the norm, and Chinese coins were used in international purchases. I believe the 상평통보 were the earlier of the two, but I might be wrong.

Anyhow the museum was a nice change of pace, as I haven't done anything touristy in quite some time. I really enjoyed it since I had been under the impression that I'd seen and done all the tourist things to be seen and done in Seoul. It's nice to know that this is not the case, and I have become motivated to seek out more of these kind of museums so I can learn more words in Korean I will never use again.