North Vietnam, 20 Years Republic, September 2nd, 1965, Michel Nr. 394-396; Three stamps all in the 12 xu nominal and perforation 11.0 were issued.
Here is the mint set:
Mint set in blocks of four:
These stamps were not officially released imperforate but a handful of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Note the printer guiding marks surrounding the proof.
Small printing errors did occur. Here is a mint and used double print of the black color which was caused by the vibration of the rubber mat used in the offset printing method as a result of improper tension settings.
Here is a perforation error that occurred due to a paper fold in the sheet. When it was later unfolded the top left stamp was left partially imperforate on top.
Very rare single franking on a local letter mailed within Ha-Bac using the orange 12xu stamp. Most local letters were destroyed in the multi-decadal war, due to the tropical climate or recycling due to raw material shortages.
Very rare local letter (full contents preserved) sent from Nam Dinh to Hanoi. Most local letters were destroyed in the multi-decadal war, destroyed by the tropical climate or by recycling due to raw material shortages.
Rare single franking of the orange 12xu stamp on a patriotic letter sent from Tho-Xuan (small post office) to Budapest, Hungary from July, 1966.
Very rare single franking of the green 12 xu stamp on a local letter sent by a member of the Note Vietnamese military to Hanoi. Most local letters were destroyed in the multi-decadal war, destroyed by the tropical climate or by recycling due to raw material shortages.
Another very rare local letter mailed from Ha-Bay to Hanoi in 1966. The envelope was turned inside-out as it shows another address on the inside of the envelope.
Multiple franking of the green 12 xu stamp on a letter sent by a member of the Vietnamese military (note the Hom Thu number in the sender line) to a comrade in Bulgaria.
Rare single franking of the violet 12 xu value bearing an very unusual dateless “HANOI” rectangular cancel. The letter was properly not cancelled when it was delivered to the small local post office which was then noted during transit in Hanoi where the substitute cancel was applied.
Detailed scan of the cancel
Another very rare single franking of the violet stamp on a local letter (full content preserved) from Hanoi to Ha Tay. Hanoi machine cancel from 1966.
Registered letter mailed to Klewitz on the First Day of Issuance of the 20 Years Republic issue and featuring a mixed currency franking and the complete set in pairs. The Jade Temple stamp from 1958 of 150 Dong had been devalued by 1965 (1,000:1) so it was only worth 15 xu and the overall franking amounted to 112 xu which was 2 xu above the required postage for a standard registered letter to West Germany.
First Flight letter of Lufthansa 773 from Ho Chi Minh City to Frankfurt, Germany (October 30th, 1990). The letter carries of the 12 xu 20 Years Republic stamps plus two of the early 1965/1967 National Liberation Front stamps. Since the currency of the NLF stamps (denominated in South Vietnamese Dong) and that of North Vietnamese stamps (denominated in North Vietnamese Dong) were incompatible these stamps were not allowed in North Vietnam. However, it appears that no one noticed this on this letter as it lipped through without any comments.
Registration Nr. 101160
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