King Gojong of Joseon established the Central Government Mint (Jeonhwanguk) of Incheon in 1892, and the Office of Currency Conversion (Taehwanseo), the agency responsible for exchanging banknotes. The office issued convertible banknotes in denominations of 50, 20, 10 and 5 nyang for the purpose of withdrawing from circulation the old coins known as Sangpyeong Tongbo. The front face of the note bears the inscription, “This bill has been issued to be exchanged with currency in circulation,” together with a warning, “Anyone who forges or falsifies this bill or who circulates it knowing that it is forged or falsified will be subject to severe punishment.” Banknotes such as this were incinerated before being circulated after the Central Government Mint of Incheon was taken over by Imperial Japan and the Office of Currency Conversion was disbanded