Gorae Byul - The Gyeongseong Mermaid - Ch. 1 - Once Upon A Time in the Ocean There Lived...

[MangaDex]

 

[100thlurker]

"I was sold to this house for the price of six won"

For half a second I thought she was sold for what was basically six pennies, as I'm more familiar with the post-independence won.

Since the first chapter is set in 1926, and Soo-a says she's been the lady's servant for ten years, this would have been in the brief period when the puppet Korean Empire had a new currency reform in 1902 issuing gold won matched to the international gold standard. While still technically its own sovereign state, Japanese authorities closed down the Joseon bureau responsible for the production of specie and struck all the coins that would actually be issued at their own mints in Osaka, and the specifications are more or less identical to the Japanese Yen. So, going by the international exchange rate of the Yen in the 1900s, at least we're talking dollars rather than pennies.

In other words Soo-a was sold to the Yeo household for a pathetic three U.S. dollars.

 

[hotteokah]

@100thlurker Whoa I did not know that. Thank you for the trivia!! 😭

 

[Denkiiki]

The art and story are 10/10

 

[dawned]

@100thlurker idk if the value would be as little as 3 dollars bc she said she was sold for the equivalent of 10 fish deliveries which is small but not an insignificant sound of money esp for a poorer family

Also, 10/10 for everything about this series!!

 

[100thlurker]

@dawned Three Dollars would go a lot further in the 1920s.

 

[likklnisa]

..

 

[Kokopooja]

So pretty )

 

[luca17]

Thank you!

 

[DaiiiSukiii]

The arts are so pretty
I HATE THE YOUNG LADY THOUGH