For Military Personell 1975

North Vietnam, For Military Personell 1975; May 19th, 1975, Michel Nr. M25; A stamp very similar to Michel Nr. 23 was issued but it was a bit smaller in size and carried the inscription “Bu’u Chinh” instead of “Tem Quan Doi” on the right side. The stamp was perforated 11.0 and was issued in sheets of 100 stamps.

Here is the mint stamp (dark cinnabar).

Mint block of four (dark cinnabar).

This stamp was issued in two different colors. The lefts specimen is the common dark cinnabar color while the right stamp is in the much rarer vivid cinnabar color.

This stamp was not officially released imperforate however, a very small number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Below are two of them. The first specimen shows guide lines surrounding the stamp and is in the color of vivid cinnabar (as per the Michel Color Guide), while the second stamp does not show any guide lines and is of dark cinnabar (as per Michel Color Guide).

Mint single stamp in dark cinnabar color that shows a plate error of “missing cockade in helmet“.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of six in dark cinnabar color of which the top left stamp (Field A1) shows the plate error “broken TEM”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Complete sheet of 100 stamps (dark cinnabar color) that features all of the plate errors listed above plus another plate error in Field F8 called “broken up plane”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

First Day Cover.

Forged First Day Cover. The stamps here are cancelled with a Hanoi cancel that was unavailable until late 1977 (until then cancels did not include the zip code) and it shows an issue year of 1973 which is incorrect.

A very rare printing error is known of this stamp on which only the red and black color as printed and the beige color omitted. As a result the soldier and his uniform looks the red of the background only. This is so far the only example the editor has ever seen but since the sheet was printed in a confection of a 100 stamps more error stamps should be out there.

Detailed scan of the error stamp.

Here is a rather ratty and dirty cover that was sent by a mere of the military (Hom This 610.840 JH21) to Saigon in November of 1975.The troops in this battalion liberated the former U.S. Navy Base in Cam Ranh Bay. This cover is unusual in as it carries a North Vietnamese stamp in the territory of the National Liberation Front (note the Cam Ranh cancel contains the initials M.N. which stood for Mien Nam (=South Vietnam). North Vietnamese stamps were not valid in the South which had issued its own stamps denominated in South Vietnamese Dong. Nevertheless the cover was transported without objection. The stamp is of the dark cinnabar color.

Local cover sent by a member of the military from Hanoi to Saigon in 1976. Red propaganda cachet stating “Voters go vote” which dates the cover to April of 1976 when the elections for the new National Assembly wer held. The stamp is of the dark cinnabar color.

Local cover sent from Cho Bim (small post office) to Tinh Ha Bac in October of 1976. Luc Nam transit cancel on the reverse. The stamp is of the vivid cinnabar color.

Local letter sent from military unit 2B 100 in Hanoi to Gia Dinh. The stamp is of the dark cinnabar color. Fragment of a machine arrival cancel on the reverse.

Local letters sent from Vinh Long to Cinh Giang in July of 1977. Mytho machine transit cancel on the reverse. The stamp is of the dark cinnabar color.

Local letter sent in 1976 from Ho Chi Minh City to a military unit (Hom Thu 27009) that carries a red and black propaganda cachet regarding the April 25th, 1976 Elections for the National Assembly. Illegible arrival cancel on the reverse.

Rare international letter. Military free franks were, according to UPS regulation, not valid for postage to international destination as they carried no nominal and were handed out free of charge as a social benefit. Here a member of the military sent a letter to a fellow Vietnamese in Leipzig, East Germany. The postal clerk hence marked up the letter with a black “T” (=postage due) hand stamp as if the letter was not franked at all. The international postage rate to East Germany had gone up from 12xu to 60xu on January 1st, 1975. A 60 xu penalty was assessed for a total postage due of 120xu. Upon receipt of the letter in East Germany the postal clerk there stamped the envelope with a red hand stamp “Nachgebuehr” (=Postage Due) and a manuscript 50 in blue crayon which indicated that the recipient had to pay 50 Set German Pfennig as postage due.

Rare international registers letter featuring the Free Frank in both color versions and along other NVN stamps paying an overall postage of 8.15D (including the red free frank for 3.70D). Again, the Free Franks were technically not allowed on international mail but it appears that the postal clerk had no problems accepting them here.