Lien Khu IV (Administrative District IV, North Annam) was located just South of Hanoi and ranged roughly until Da Nang in Central Vietnam.

Lien Khu V (Administrative District V, ) was located South of Da Nang and ranged until just North of Saigon.

Lien Khu VI (Administrative District VI) was located at the very bottom of South Vietnam.

These administrative districts were semi-autonomous as they were basically cut-off from from the region surrounding Hanoi (Lien Khu III, West Tonkin) and the mountain regions located East of Laotian border (Lien Khu I) and South of the Chinese border (Lien Khu II). Because Viet Minh stamps from the Central Government that controlled most of the countryside in the North could often not be transported to Lien Khu IV through VI and because the French military was still controlling all the major transit routes these areas had to come up with their own stamps. This was sometimes done by overprinting Viet Minh stamps or stamps of the old Indochinese Regime that were on hand with new values. Inflation was rampant and so this was required frequently. Also, let’s keep in mind that the Ho Chi Minh Trail that ran through Laos and Cambodia did not exist yet to the same degree it existed during the war with the U.S.. Postal rates in Lien Khu IV through VI did not neccessarliy match those of the Viet Minh postal system in the North.

Lien Khu IV

Indochinese Stamps that were previously overprinted by the Central Viet Minh Government but then overprinted by the Lien Khu IV Government with new values.  According to Michel four values were overprinted anew:

0.30D on 15 Centimes (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 20) overprinted on Indochina Nr. 345 with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 30” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone) in green. Here is a vertical pair of two mint stamps (ex Schwirtz).

0.50D on 30xu (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 30) overprinted on unissued Indochina Nr. II with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone) in black. Here is an exceedingly rare used specimen (ex Schwirtz) that shows a cancel that certainly looks genuine which indicates that these stamps were in fact postally used.

Here is the same manual overprint of “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone) in red on the base stamp Indochina Michel Nr. 344. This is unusual as this overprint was normally applied to stamps by the Viet Minh that had already been overprinted with “Viet-Nam, Dan-Chu, Cong-Hoa, Buu-Chin”. This variety is not listed in any catalogues at this time but has been reported to Michel for future inclusion.

Michel Nr. NZV 3; 0.50D on 2 Centimes (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 2) overprinted on Indochina Nr.321 with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone/New Price) in black. Here is a horizontal mint pair of this stamp (ex Schwirtz).

Michel Nr. NZV 4a; 0.50D on 15 Centimes (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 19) overprinted on Indochina Nr.344 with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone/New Price) in black. Here is a mint version of this stamp (ex Schwirtz).

Michel Nr. Unlisted ; 0.50D on 15 Centimes (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 19a) overprinted on Indochina Nr.321 with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone/New Price) in black. This overprint on the green Viet Minh overprint is not yet listed in the Michel catalogue. Here is a rare pair in mint (ex Schwirtz).

Michel Nr. NZV 4b ; 0.50D on 15 Centimes (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 19) overprinted on Indochina Nr.321 with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone/New Price) in red. Here is a rare vertical pair in mint (ex Schwirtz).

Michel Nr. NZV 4c ; 0.50D on 15 Centimes (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 19) overprinted on Indochina Nr.321 with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone/New Price) in red-brown. The editor has never seen the re-brown overprint and suspects it may simply be an oxidized version of the red overprint above or reflects a hand-stamp that previously was used with black ink and subsequently with red ink mixing both colors.

A 0.50D on 30 Centimes (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 21aA) overprinted on Indochina Nr.315b with “BDLKV 4 Gia Moi 0 d 50” (=Postal Service of the 4th Interzone/New Price) in blue is in the collection of a fellow SICP member and the overprint looks genuine. This stamp is yet unlisted in Michel and has not been collected by the editor yet.

There is also a forgery of the red overprint in what appears to a neon color that was not even available in 1946/7. The overprint is much cruder than the genuine overprint. Also Ha Giang was located in the North West just South of the Chinese border in Lien Khu II. Here is a sample of the forgery.

 

Another overprint type has been found that is also attributed to Lien Khu IV. It states “Viet Nam, Dan Chu, Cong Hoa, 50xu VN” is printed in red and the overprint is found on Indochina Michel Nr. 291. Given the 0.50D nominal it would have to fall into the same time period as the above stamps (Fall of 1947 to January of 1948). The stamp has so far only been observed mint so it is not known if this stamp was ever released or if it is even an official issue of Lien Khu IV. Michel list it under NZV I.

Michel Nr. NZV 1-4 are all significantly more scarce than what the Michel price suggests. Also the editor questions the Michel prices for used stamps. Virtually all the genuine stamps the editor has ever seen are mint and he is only aware of the above genuinely used stamp. All other used stamps have the typical corner CTO cancel that is impossible to verify. These were most likely applied with stolen cancels much later. If you have any genuinly used stamps which show city and date, the editor would be very interested to receive a scan copy of them.

The Viet Minh postal tariff changed in the fall of 1948 from 1.5 Dong to 5 Dong and the 9 Hao value of the 1st Ho Chi Minh series from September of 1946 (Democratic Republic of Vietnam Nr. 19) was overprinted with a new value 5 Dong and Gia Moi (= new price) in black. There are three different overprint types known. While the editor has never seen a complete sheet of these stamps or even a large unit, it is likely that these different types all appear within the same sheet and simply represent different overprint cliches. The same can be observed with Michel NVN Nr. 1.

Here is the mint version of Michel Nr. NZV 5a Type I).

Here is a cancelled version of Michel Nr. NZV 5a Type I) but the corner cancel looks very much like a cancel to order that was applied with  stolen cancel outside the time period.

Here is the mint version of Michel Nr. NZV 5b Type II).

Registration Nr. 100023

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