South Vietnam, Community Work for Rural Development, February 4th, 1972, Michel Nr. SVN 489-490; Two stamps in nominals of 3D and 8D were issued in perforation 13.5.

Here is the mint set.

and here the postally used 3D value.

These stamps were not officially released imperforate, however, a small number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Here is the imperforate set in matching sheet margins.

Single franking of the 3D value on a domestic primed matter mailing sent from Saigon to Nha Trang.

Single franking of the 3D value on a domestic letter sent from Nha Trang to a member of the military (KBC 4837) paying the 50% discounted military tariff.

Multiple franking of the 3D value (2) paying an overall postage of 6D on  domestic letters ent by a member of the military (KBC 6974/Station of the 481st Battalion) and sent to Gia Dinh. Red KBC cachet on front.

Rare multiple franking of the 3D Country Development (2) paying an overall postage of 6D on a domestic letter sent from a member of the military (KBC 6308). The letter was judged to be insufficient in postage and hence received a black “T” postage due hand stamp on front. Upon arrival two 5D postage due stamps were added on the reverse which collected the 10D penalty that was due upon delivery. Black propaganda hand stamp on front. Saigon arrival cancel on the reverse.

This is a a rather unusual letter. It was mailed in September of 1974 by a member of the military (KBC 6909/Regional Forces) to a civilian in Sadec. The manuscript remark at the bottom left “Thu Hanh Quan” means “from the field”. The military rate for a standard domestic letter amounted to 10D at the time but the sender only franked the letter with 9D, which means it was short by just 1D. But the letter was entered into the civilian postal system and not the military postal system and hence was treated differently. The standard civilian rate at the time was 25D and the postal clerk applied that rate (short by 16D) to come up with the postage due penalty. The standard calculation was “missing postage times two”, which should have meant that the postage due amounted to two times 16D or 32D, however a black “T” hand stamp and a red manuscript 30D was applied on front of the envelope indicating that additional postage had to be collected upon delivery. This was most likely just based on an arimetric mistake.  It appears that no postage due stamps were available in Sadec at the time and so the clerk there applied two standard 15D stamps from the National Development set on the reverse to indicate that the postage due had been collected. This is the only letter the editor has ever sent where standard stamps were used to collect a postage due penalty.

Mixed franking of three 3D Community Work stamps together with the 1D Harvest stamp paying an overall postage of 10D on a domestic letter sent from Vinh Long to Nha Trang.

Mixed franking of the 3D Community Work stop together with the 7D Folk Dance stamp paying an overall postage of 10D on a domestic letter sent from Boen Hoa to Saigon in 1973.

Mixed franking of the 2D Self Defense stamps (2) together with two 3D Rural Development stamps paying an overall postage of 10D on a domestic letter sent to Saigon in September of 1973.

Mixed franking of the Civil Self Defense and Development of Country stamps paying a tariff of 10D on a domestic letter sent from Hue to Saigon in January of 1974. The letter was judged to be deficient in postage as indicated by the black “T” hand stamp in front. As a result a D10 postage due stamp was added upon arrival in order to collect the missing postage along with the assessed penalty.

Single franking of the 8D value on a domestic letter sent by a member of the military (KBC 6540 in Pleiku) to a civilian in Cam Rand. Cancelled by the “mute” Quan Buu military cancel. Weak impression of the red KBC cachet on front. Members of the military only had to pay 50% of the standard letter rate.

Single franking of the 8D value on a domestic letter sent by a member of the military (KBC 6534/3rd Infantry Division in Da Nang) to a civilian in Saigon. Cancelled by the “mute” Quan Buu military cancel. Black KBC cachet on front. Members of the military only had to pay 50% of the standard letter rate.

Single franking of the 8D value on a domestic letter (full contents preserved) on a domestic letter sent from a member of the military (KBC 4869/ a yet unlisted KBC number in the official SICP KBC listing) to a civilian in Saigon in February of 1972. This was insufficient postage at the time and hence a red “T” hand stamp was applied on front indicating that additional postage was due upon delivery.

Mixed franking of the 10D and 20D Rural Post stamps together with stamps from the Crafts, Vietnamese Women, Asian Parlamentarian Union, Fishery, Rural Development, Reconstruction after TET Offensive and Caligraphy sets paying an overall postage of 188D on a registered air mail letter sent from Saigon Le Loi to Switzerland in June of 1972. A yellow sticker was added in Switzerland stating that the letter had to be picked up by July 5th, which apparently it was.

Mixed franking of the Fisheries set together with the Ocean Fish and Rural Post sets paying an overall postage of 243D on a rare registered express mail letter sent from Con Son to West Germany in May of 1972. Ex Klewitz.

Registration Nr. 201140

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