South Vietnam, 15 Years UNESCO, November 4th, 1961, Michel Nr. SVN 255-257; Three stamps in nominals of 1D, 2D and 5D were issued in perforation 13.

Here is the mint set

and here the postally used set

These stamps were not officially released imperforate, however, a small number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market.

Enpreuves de Luxe; “Atelier de Fabrication des Timbres-Poste, Paris” inscribed at bottom right.

Color Trials; prior to authorizing the final printing run for stamps the Vietnamese Postal Authority requested a few sheets of color sheets on one particular value of a set in order to decide which final color combination would be best suited for each stamp within the set. The color sheets had the size of a standard sheet but contained alternating color options on the designated nominal value. While these sheets were only intended for internal postal use some of them came to market. Virtually all of these complete sheets were cut apart. So one mostly finds single color proofs or small strips of them. While they are actually very rare one can still obtain them for under $10 a piece (with some exceptions) as not many collectors appear to have an interest in them so far. Here are various color trials for the 2D value.

Mixed franking of the 1D “15 Years UNESCO” plus stamps of the Buildings and Landscape sets paying an overall postage of 3.50D on a rare international printed matter mailing sent rom Tourane to the United States. Most of these printed matter items were simply tossed out and hence are now very hard to find.

Mixed franking featuring the Beach of Ha Tien set together with stamps from the Agrarian Reform, Colombo Conference, Buildings and UNESCO sets paying an overall postage of 4D on an international surface letter sent from Saigon to the United States in May of 1963.

Multiple franking of the 1D value (2) paying a postage of 2D on a domestic letter sent from Saigon to Binh Duong in November of 1961.

Single franking of the 2D value on a domestic letter (full contents preserved) sent from Puoc Le (small post office) to Saigon in November of 1961. Phu Cuong transit cancel on there reverse.

Multiple franking of the 2D value (4) paying an overall postage of 8D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to France in February of 1963.

Mixed franking of the 2D “15 Years UNESCO” and the 8D Boy Scout stamps paying an overall postage of 10D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to Belgium in August of 1963.

Mixed franking of the the 2D “15 Years UNESCO” stamps (2) together with two 5D “4 Years Republic” stamps paying an overall postage of 14D on an international letter sent from Saigon to the United States in March of 1963.

Mixed franking of two of the 10D Meteorology stamps together with stamps from the UNESCO set paying an overall postage of 31D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to the United States in December of 1964.

Multiple franking of the 5D value (3) paying an overall postage of 15D on an international registered air mail letter sent from Da Nag to East Germany in November of 1961. Various transit cancels on the reverse.

Mixed franking of the 7D Nuclear Energy for Peace together with the 5D UNESCO stamp paying an overall postage of 12D on an international letter sent from Saigon to France in November of 1965.

Mixed franking of the 50c (2) and 1D Buildings and Landscapes stamps together with stamps from the Air Mail, Railway Line, Meteorology, Moral Arming of Youth, UNESCO and Revolt against Ngô Đình Diệm sets paying an overall postage of 28D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to the United States in January of 1965.

Mixed franking of two 20D Teas-VIetnamese Railway stamps together with a 5D UNESCO stamp paying an overall postage of 45D on an international letter sent from Saigon to the United States.

Registration Nr. 200310

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