30 Years Democratic Republic Vietnam

North Vietnam, 30 Years Democratic Republic Vietnam, September 2nd, 1975, Michel Nr. 821-823; Three stamps all with a 12 xu nominal were issued in perforation 11.0. There was also a souvenir sheet with a 20 xu nominal issued however only im-perforated.

Single franking of the HCM value on a domestic letter sent from Hanoi to a member of the military (note the Hom Thu Nr. in the address line) in November of 1975.

Rare local letter (with content) from Hanoi to Hi Chi Minh City from April of 1976. 12 xu was the proper franking for this time period. Ho-Chi Minh machine arrival cancel on the reverse.

Another rare local letter sent from Cauk Hong (small post office) to a small place outside of Ho Chi Minh City in January of 1976. HCM City machine arrival cancel on the reverse.

Registered letter sent to Klewitz in December of 1981. It carries a pair of mis-perforated green/yellow Five Year Plan 12 xu stamps of the 2nd printing. There is also a block of nine of the 12 xu stamp 1st printing and the Democratic Republic set. The overall postage amounted to 8.34 Dong.

Mixed franking of two of the 12xu Democratic Republic stamps together with a 20xu Chrysanthemum and 1 Dong Air Defense stamps paying an overall postage of 1.44D on an air-mail letter from Hanoi to France in September of 1975.

Very rare express mail letter sent to Klewitz in January of 1976. The letter carries the set plus some im-perforated stamps from the working elephants and traditional sports sets. Im-perforated stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 3.48 Dong which appears to be in excess of the required tariff of 1.50 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse.

Very rare express mail letter sent to Klewitz in December of 1975. It features the set plus some im-perforated stamps from the sculpture set. Im-perforated stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The over-all postage amounted to 3.66 Dong which appears to be in excess of the required tariff of 1.50 Dong for a standard 20 gram express mail letter to West Germany.

Rare registered express mail letter sent in May of 1981 from Quan 5 (Cholon) to West Germany. It carries two of the regular Socialist republic 6 xu stamps plus other flag stamps for an overall postage of 13.68 Dong. Curious use of three free franks totaling 12 Dong. There are also two of the Democratic Republic stamps. Unusual hand-made express mail label. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse.

Here is the mint souvenir sheet:

Souvenir-sheet (light color tones) with Hanoi date canceller with First Date Cancellation Hanoi (September 2nd, 1975). Cancelled souvenir-sheets great least 50 times rarer than mint ones.

Some significant color variations that exceed normal tonal variations do occur. Here is a mint souvenir sheet that shows a blue-green background color especially on the right side of the sheet.

Souvenir-sheet (blue-green background) with Hanoi date canceller with First Date Cancellation Hanoi (September 2nd, 1975). Cancelled souvenir-sheets great least 50 times rarer than mint ones.

Here is an example that shows a passer shift of the light green background color to the left:

This is a very rare example of the light green printing run entirely missing. This results in a white trunk and crown of the tree to the right.

This is an unusual printing flaw. On this sheet the years “1945-1975” are repeated in a ghost image just below the white numbers but in dark green color. This was caused by the fact that the excess color caused by the white area above was not properly removed from the roller which then caused it to be printed in a faded dark green.

Here is a close-up of the ghost print area:

Here is a very rare printing error on which the entire orange color in the face of Ho Chi Minh is missing.

Here is a close-up of the color error:

Very rare large registered letter sent in February of 1978 from Hanoi to Essen, West Germany. The letter carries the souvenir sheet, the im-perforated single stamp from the souvenir sheet plus other VNV stamps for an overall postage of 7.30D. Souvenir sheets or stamps from souvenir sheets on postally used cover are very rare.

Very rare letter sen to Klewitz in March of 1976. It carries the im-perforated souvenir sheet plus a range of im-perforated other NVN stamps. Souvenir sheets and im-perforated stamps postally used cover are very rare. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 3.58 Dong which appears to be in excess of the required tariff (1.50 Dong for a standard 20 gram express mail letter).

The second postally used specimen also is ex Klewitz. It is a very large registered letter that was sent to Klewitz in April of 1986. It contains the 1982 souvenir sheet plus other HCM souvenir sheets issued in 1975 and 1984. The letter also carries a military free frank issued in 1981. Military free franks were not valid for international postage due to the missing nominal value. However, it appears that the postal clerk accepted the stamp in contravention of postal regulations. The letter overall is franked with 49.64 Dong. Unusual red cancel. Green Fulda custom cachet on front. Again this is an extremely rare postal mailing of Block 14.