11. Anniversary of the Geneva Indochina Agreement

North Vietnam, 11. Anniversary of the Geneva Indochina Agreement, July 20th, 1965, Michel Nr. 376-378; Three values depicting the face of Nguyen Van Troi a National Liberation Front bomber were issued (12 xu, 50 xu, 4 Dong).He gained notoriety after being captured by South Vietnamese forces while trying to assassinate United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and future ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who were visiting South Vietnam in May 1963 (Wikipedia). The stamps were issued in perforation 11.0.

Here is the mint perforated set.

Set in mint blocks of four:

Very rare postally used strip of four of the high 4D value (probably from a package or large envelope).

These stamps were not issued im-perforated but a small number of im-perforate proofs have come to market. Here is the entire set im-perforated. Rare!

Rare block of four of the the imperforate 12xu value.

Very rare imperforate trial proof just showing the dark brown color of the 12 xu stamp

Perforation Errors do occur. Here is a block of four of the high 4 Dong value that shows a double perforation at the top margin. Here the perforation comb struck twice as the sheet failed to advance in the perforation process.

Rare single franking of the 50xu value on a letter sent from Hanoi to Brno, Czechoslovakia.

Letter mailed in July of 1967 featuring a mixed franking of the 50xu Geneva Convention stamp plus the 2xu Mountain Province issue for an overall postage of 52xu. The standard letter rate was only 12xu so either this letter must have beeb much heavier than normal or it was franked incorrectly using the required postage to Western countries.

Mixed franking of the 3xu Communist Party stamp together with the 50xu Geneva Convention and 40xu New Year stamp paying an overall postage of 93xu on an international air mail letter sent from Hanoi to East Germany in March of 1967.

Mixed franking of the 3xu Cultural Development stamp together with the 50xu Geneva Agreement, 1 xu Liberation Front and 20 xu Hydrogen Bomb stamps paying an overall postage of 74xu on an international air mail mailing by Xunhasaba sent in November of 1969 from Hanoi to Sweden.

Air mail letter sent in August of 1976 a Vietnamese Worker in East Germany using one of the 50xu Indochina Agreement stamps plus one of the 20xu Group Space Flight stamps for an overall postage of 70 xu.

Xunhasaba mailing from November 1965 featuring the 50xu Geneva Convention stamp plus two of the 12xu Morrison stamps for an overall postage of 74xu.

Rare registered letter mailed by Xunhasaba containing a stamp shipment to a client in Munich, West Germany. It was franked with four of the 50xu Geneva Convention stamps and a mix of other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 2.32D. The standard letter rate to West Germany (up to 20g) amounted to 50xu and the registration fee to 60xu. So the contents of this letter must have exceeded the standard 20g weight level.

Here is a letter with the 12 xu and 50 xu value sent to Klewitz in August of 1965. The overall franking amounted to 1.60 Dong which was well in excess of the required postage of 50 xu for a standard letter to Western Europe.

Letter from a Vietnamese exchange student that sent New Years Greetings to his former host family. The content is still in the letter consisting on a greeting card that shows flowers, landscape but also a plane being shot down. Since the letter was heavier than the standard 20 grams the postage that was used was 62 xu (standard postage was 50 xu).

Letter from Xunhasaba mailed as “Printed Matter” in September of 1965 to a stamp dealer or collector. The letter carried a mixed franking including the 50xu Geneva Convention stamp for an overall postage of 74 xu.

Mixed franking of the 50xu Geneva Agreement value together with the 12xu Anniversary of the Revolution stamp and the 12xu World Union stamp for an overall postage of 74xu on an air mail letter to Paris, France.

Mixed franking of the 12xu Aircraft Shot Down stamp together with a pair of the 6xu Labor Day stamp and 50xu Geneva Convention stamp for an overall postage of 74xu on an air mail letter to Paris, France.

Mixed franking of a pair of 1xu NLF stamp together with the 50xu Geneva Convention stamp and three of the 6xu values of the Anniversary of the Revolution set for an overall postage of 70xu on an air mail letter to Stockholm, Sweden. Sweden was a rare destination.

Mixed franking of a pair of the 122xu NLF stamps together with a pair of the 50xu Geneva Convention stamps for an overall postage of 1.24D. Mailed in June of 1970 to Paris, France.

Mixed franking of a pair of the 1xu NLF stamp together with the 10xu Pagoda stamp, the 30xu Ballistic Rocket and 50xu Geneva Convention stamp for an overall postage of 92xu. The letter was sent by the Vietnamese National Library to the National Library of East Germany in August of 1970.

Rare single franking of the high 4 Dong value in the set sent from Gregor Schwirtz to Theo Klewitz in West Germany in 1979. Schwirtz was a linguist that spoke Vietnamese and that collaborated with Klewitz on many philatelic issues. Since the standard rate of a letter was only 50 xu this letter is most likely over-franked in order to document the value on postally used cover. Still, the 4 Dong is still very hard to find on cover.

Rare single franking of the 12 xu value from September 1965 using the correct postage for a standard letter to a fellow socialist country, the Soviet Union.