Banknote Auction Nets 310 Million Won

The Bank of Korea’s Internet auction of its new 5,000 won bills brought in more than 300 million won, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Internet auction site “Auction.”

The profits generated by the bank’s online auction of new 5,000 won bills with serial numbers below 10,000 are estimated to be about 310 million won. That figure was derived by subtracting 70 million won, the face value of the bills sold, auction fees, and packaging, from total auction revenues of 380 million won.

The Bank of Korea put 9,900 bills that featured the serial numbers “101” to “10,000” up for auction. Although some bills did not sell at all, a 5,000 won bill sold for about 38,000 on average.

The bills that attracted the most interest were in a bundle of ten bills that contained the digits “7771” to “7780,” including “7777.” The final bid price for the bundle was 8.3 million won, 166 times the face value of the bills. The bidder refused to buy the item after the auction ended, however.

The smallest serial number offered to the public, “101,” got a final bid of five million won, 1,000 times its face value. But that bidder also did not pay.

A 10-bill bundle with the numbers from “111” to “120” was sold for the highest price, 4.1 million won.

The Bank of Korea is planning to hold a fourth auction for items that did not sell in previous auctions. All auction proceeds will go to charity.

Suk-Min Hong smhong@donga.com