Korea's First Commemorative Coins

That's a very interesting article.

From 1969 to 1971, I worked part-time for a London coin retailer who specialised in modern issues.

There was very little marketing of these coins in England and we only found out about them by accident when a regular client asked about them.
Even then, my boss would not buy them.
The fact that they were to be individually numbered, made them medals not coins (in his view).
He felt that Italcambio was a shady outfit, issuing some collectibles for places that did not exist and according to his US friends, possible links to the mafia.
He decided not to risk his capital on the Korean 'coins' and not to risk his reputation on his client's behalf.

I think this highlights Italcambio's lack of marketing in England since I later met people in Europe who had no qualms about buying their products.

Incidentally, he wasn't xenophobic at all, however in those pre-internet days it was both difficult and expensive to get reliable information about foreign companies.

My recollection is that most coins were sold through the well-known coin dealers and most of them had retail premises or through the auctions - in those days, Glendinnings, Sotheby's and Christie's. There was mail order but no one bought from companies they didn't know.

In Spain, Germany and France it was common to buy new issues from banks and I think that's what Italcambio tried to do in the UK. As I said above, buying by mail order from an unknown company was risky.

It's a pity because they were stunning designs for the 1970s.

I was at university a few years later with people (children of expat Americans and British) who were interested in coins and they never mentioned commemorative Korean coins, though they were keen collectors of British new issues.
who lived in South Korea