Korean numismatic charm

Korean numismatic charms (Korean: 열쇠패; lit. odd coins), also known as Korean amulets, Korean talismans, or simply Korean charms, refer to a family of cash coin-like and other numismatic inspired types of charms that like the Japanese and Vietnamese variants are derived from Chinese numismatic charms (also referred to as Yansheng coins or huāqián), but have evolved around the customs of the Korean culture although most of these charms resemble Korean cash coins and the amulet coins of China, they contain their own categories unique to Korea.^[1] There are approximately 500 different known variants of Korean numismatic charms.^[2]

During the Joseon dynasty only the Yangban class could afford money. A common Korean family would often only have one or two amulets to "protect" their family but wasn't able to afford a large quantity of them. The Yangban however could afford to buy Korean amulets and charms and they frequently decorated the homes of the wealthy aristocracy. As the Japanese started taking over Korea in the beginning of the twentieth century many Korean families started selling whatever they could to get by, and when there was a global copper shortage in 1907 millions of Korean numismatic charms and Korean mun cash coins were sold for only their intrinsic value in copper. After Korea became a Japanese colony the Japanese started collecting all the copper they could find for the war effort which is why Korean numismatic charms became less common.^[3]

In some instances regular Sangpyeong Tongbo (Hanja: 常平通寶) cash coins were turned into amulets by making their outer shapes from round to octagonal as a reference to the eight trigrams, while seven holes representing the seven stars from Korean folk art were drilled into them.^[4] The widespread success of the Sangpyeong Tongbo cash coins also brought about many social changes to Korean society. One of these changes was the emergence of byeoljeon, these were non-monetary decorative people that reflected on the desire of people to gain more wealth.^[5]