North Vietnam, 90. Birthday of Georgi M. Dimitroff, August 15th, 1972, Michel Nr. 699-700; Dimitroff was a Bulgarian member of the communist party that was indicted by the Nazis to have participated in a conspiracy to burn down the Reichstag (parliament building) in Berlin in 1933. The process was a show trial the Nazis used to accuse and later arrest and kill many of their political enemies such as socialists and communists. However Dimitroff was brilliant orator that was able to completely take apart the prosecutors “evidence” and was consequently declared innocent. Two stamps, both with a 12 xu nominal, were issued in perforation 11.0.

Here is the mint set:

Mint set in blocks of four:

These stamps were not officially released im-perforated, however a handful of imperforate trial proofs have come to market:

Very rare single franking of the green 12 xu value on a local letter (full content preserved) sent from Hai Phong to Ho Chi Minh City in July of 1976. Most local letters were destroyed in the multi-decadal war, the tropical climate or recycling due to raw material shortages. Ho Chi Minh machine arrival cancels on the reverse.

Another, very rare singer ranking of the green 12xu value on a local letter set to Ho Chi Minh City in September of 1976. HCM City arrival cancels on the reverse.

Rare single franking of the green value sent in 1972 on a standard letter to East Germany to a fellow Vietnamese who was working or studying in East Germany. As of March 1st, 1960 the standard letter rate to fellow Socialist countries was equal to the 12 xu standard domestic letter rate.

Mixed franking using the second 12 xu Dimitoff stamp plus one 6 xu 20 Years revolution stamp and paying an overall tariff of 18 xu on a large international envelope sent from Hanoi to Sweden in August of 1973. Since the standard international letter rate to Western countries was already 50 xu in 1973 the mailing most likely represents a printed matter that carries a much reduced rate. Rare.

Very rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in February of 1973. The letter carried the entire set plus some im-perforated stamps from the color wood print and bamboo set. Imperforate stamps on postally used covers era very rare. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 2.58 Dong which appears to be in excess of the required tariff. A standard 20 gram registered express mail letter to West Germany only cost 1.60 Dong.

Mixed franking including two for the 12 xu stamps  of the set on a registered air mail letter to Klewitz in West Germany. The overall postage amounted to 2.60 Dong. The base letter tariff to the West had increased to 1 Dong as of January 1st, 1975. The international registration fee still stayed at 60 xu. However, an air-mail surcharge was introduced on December 1st, 1976 that amounted to 40 xu for every 5 grams of weight. One can therefore assume that the letter must have weighed around 10 grams. Note the green Fulda customs hand stamp indicating that the letter contained some merchandise (most likely stamps).

Registered letter sent in March of 1982 to Klewitz. It carries eleven of the Flower stamps plus the Dimitroff set for an overall postage of 11.22 Dong (including the 5 Dong are frank). Unusual red cancel. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registration Nr. 102040

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