W50,000 Notes Last Longer Than Smaller Denominations
27 November, 2019
The average lifespan of a W50,000 bill is estimated at 13 years and six months, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday (US$1=W1,178).
By comparison, W1,000 and W5,000 bills last an average of about four years. And a W10,000 bill, which would be the most commonly used in Korea, is estimated to last about 10 years and seven months on average.
The lifespan of a banknote is the period from the time the bill is printed until it is destroyed due to damage, such as tears or stains.
The relatively longer lifespan of W50,000 bills may be evidence of a thriving underground economy, as people stash away Korea's largest denomination somewhere for a rainy day.
In a survey conducted by the BOK last year, 79.4 percent of cash reserves hoarded by individuals were W50,000 bills.
W50,000 bills have a shorter lifespan than 50-pound bills (41 years), 100 Australian-dollar (27 years and six months), 500-euro (19 years and seven months) and US$100 bills (15 years), but a much longer life than 10,000-yen notes (4 years and eight months).
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