When the Dangbaekjeon (當百錢), or 100 mun denomination Sangpyeong Tongbo cash coin, was introduced in 1866 by regent Heungseon Daewongun to finance the state's military expenditures to strengthen Korea's military power to be able to compete with that of the Western powers which were forming an ever growing threat,[4][5] as well as to rebuild the Gyeongbok Palace.

This eventually lead to traders preferring silver foreign currency such as the Mexican peso, Japanese yen, Russian ruble, and Chinese sycees.

As a result of Some people started to melt smaller Sangpyeong Tongbo cash coins down to make counterfeit money.

[20] Hence, to secure another source of revenue and to cover its losses, the Joseon government legalise the use of Qing Chinese money in Korea in June 1867.

[23] Both the Danbaekjeon and the Dangojeon cash coins were symptoms of the considerable turmoil that were occurring within the royal family and its advisers during the reign of King Gojong.

[22] The Korean government was under severe fiscal pressures due to chronic financial difficulties, and new fiscal expenditures such as the costs of dispatching overseas missions, the costs of opening port cities like Busan, Wonsan, and Incheon, and the installation of new military facilities since the opening of Korea in the year 1876.

In order to overcome these financial hardships, the Korean government temporarily manufactured the Dae Dong silver coinage in 1882.

[30] During the 1890s the Central Government Mint (典圜局, 전원국) created a machine-struck brass Sangpyeong Tongbo cash coin with a round centre hole.