Republic of Korea, Certificate of Indebtedness ($10 bond, no. 462), signed by Syngman Rhee
A ten-dollar 'Certificate of Indebtedness' in the form of a sovereign gold-standard bond: engraved border, numbered, 'Republic of Korea' as its masthead, redeemable at the Minister of Finance at Seoul, an embossed seal and two signatures. The state paper's borrowed form and the promise to pay once the United States recognises the Republic are the transfer, lending an unrecognised claim to sovereignty the look of an established treasury's credit.
- Date
- September 1, 1919
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (Syngman Rhee, President) and its Korean Commission
- Region
- East Asia
- Country
- Provisional Government of Korea
- Medium
- Banknotes and coins
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Provisional Government of Korea
- Leader
- Syngman Rhee
- Audience
- Diaspora or minority
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- Economy and finance, Empire and colonialism
- Event
- Korean Independence Movement
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (scan credited to University of Southern California), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (issued 1919, before 1931; Commons tags PD-South Korea-exempt)
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, 1919; scan via University of Southern California and Wikimedia Commons
Text on the object
$10 No. 462 Republic of Korea Certificate of Indebtedness This Certifies that there is due from the Republic of Korea to the Bearer, the sum of TEN DOLLARS, of the standard of value, weight and fineness of gold coin of the United States of America, for the redemption of which we pledge the good faith and credit of the Republic of Korea upon presentation to the Minister of Finance, at Seoul, Korea, within one year after the recognition of the Republic of Korea by the United States of America; the original holder hereof having loaned the amount of this certificate of indebtedness to the Republic of Korea. Redemption shall be made either in cash or in authorized bonds of the Republic of Korea drawing not less than four per cent per annum as the said Minister of Finance, acting for the said Republic of Korea, by proper authority shall direct. This certificate shall draw interest at six per cent per annum until time for redemption as above specified. Done and certified by and for the Republic of Korea this first day of September, A.D. 1919. ATTEST: [signature] Kiusic Kimm Chairman of the Korean Commission [signature] Syngman Rhee President of the Republic of Korea [embossed seal, partly legible] [illegible printer's mark, lower left margin]
Signature names are read from the signatures themselves and matched to the printed titles beneath them. The embossed seal (centre right, overlapping the signature line) and the tiny printer's mark at lower left are not legible.
