First National Bank (Dai-Ichi Ginko Ld., 株式會社第一銀行) Currency & Banknote Values

The Greysheet Catalog (GSID) of the First National Bank (Dai-Ichi Ginko Ld., 株式會社第一銀行) series of Korea in the World Currency contains 29 distinct entries with CPG® values between $50.00 and $1,400.00.

The First National Bank (FNB) was founded in Japan in 1873 as Japan’s first commercial bank. Via a long series of mergers and acquisitions, as of 2019 it is Mizuho Bank, currently among the 20 largest banks in the world. On many of these issues, the bank name appears in its Japanese form, though spelt in the Roman alphabet, as Dai-Ichi Ginko Ld.

By the turn of the 20th century, Japan had become so involved militarily and economically in Korean affairs that it was able to release banknotes for circulation on the peninsula. The initial First National Bank notes features a portrait of the bank’s founder, Shibusawa Eiichi, a Japanese, infuriating the Korean government and leading to a ban on their circulation. Under threat of Japanese military action, the ban was lifted and the notes became legal tender.