A History of the Stamps of South/Central Vietnam

Modern Rarities of the World

By Klaus Gebhardt and Frank Duering

 

Introduction

Classic rare stamps of obscure territories and countries such as Mauritius or British Guiana were prominently reported about only a few years or decades after they were issued in the middle of the 19^th Century. At the time stamp collecting had become a fashionable hobby of aristocrats and the upper middle class. Since the number of stamps issued by country were relatively small until the beginning of the 20^th Century the focus of collectors was global and did not have the more narrow character of today’s country or motive collectors. As a result even very remote or small territories authorized to issue their own stamps became well known among collectors. Some stamps, such as the Mauritius Post Office stamps or the British Guiana 1c magenta became legends in the philatelic field that almost reached mythical proportions. Not only were these stamps celebrated by all collectors but by the population at large through newspaper articles, auction results and even books that described their origin, rarity and value.

With the greater number of stamps being issued in the 20^th century and collectors turning to specialization this wide focus became much narrower. Collectors tended to concentrate on ‘their’ country or motive, ignoring the larger world around them. For countries that were either small or politically less prominent this led to the curious effect that stamps which were rarer than even the fabled examples above were almost forgotten. This is the case with the extremely rare stamps of South Central Vietnam that were issued between 1950/51 and 1954. Today only one stamp catalogue (Michel) even lists and attempts to price these stamps, while all other catalogue makers have so far ignored them. The Michel catalogue that covers Vietnam is only available in German. That means information about these stamps is mostly open to German language speakers and that, of course, contributes to their relative obscurity in the philatelic community. This brochure is trying to change this.

Larger Historical Context

At the end of World War II the surrender of Japan in September of 1945 to the United States created a power vacuum in Indochina. Japan had occupied the Northern part of Indochina in September of 1940 in an arrangement with the French Vichy Government that was left in place to continue the administration of the territory. In July of 1941 this occupation extended also throughout the Southern part of Indochina but became total in March of 1945, when the Japanese disarmed and imprisoned the French troops across all of Indochina to take full control. A nationalistic movement created in May of 1941 to fight the Japanese, called League for the Independence in Vietnam (Việt Nam Độc Lập Đồng Minh Hội or Viet Minh in short) used the power vacuum that existed in August of 1945, after the Japanese influence had vanished, to declare Vietnam’s independence. Japanese troops were still in the country but had not been disarmed yet by the Chinese north of the 16^thparallel and by the British south thereof. This was completed by the beginning of October of 1945 and thereafter French troops began reentering the country in order to reassert their previous colonial influence. Already with the neutralization of the French troops in March 1945 by Japan, the Vieth Minh, under their leader Ho Chi Minh, had begun to establish their influence on the Indochinese country site. With Japan out of the picture, the Viet Minh began to reorient their fight for independence against the French. French troops were slowly built up again starting from the South and by March of 1946 they begun to reenter the area North of the 16^th parallel. Thus began a bitter power struggle with the Viet Minh mostly occupying the country side and the French the large cities, towns and important roads. The Viet Minh were backed in this by China and the Soviet Union, fellow communist countries, that had recognized Vietnamese independence in 1950. The French in turn were supported by the United States. This brutal proxy war came to an end in May of 1954, when the French lost a decisive battle at Dien Bien Phu and with the Geneva Agreements that ended all hostilities in July of 1954 and granted Vietnam territorial integrity and independence from the French.

Parallel Postal Systems

The power struggle between the Viet Minh and the French, with each side controlling different parts of the country, created a unique parallel administrative system under which the Viet Minh generally controlled small towns, hamlets and the country side, while the French focused on the larger towns and cities and on controlling major transportation infrastructure important to moving around troops and weapons. Of course, the controlled territories changed very frequently during the war which lead to either an expansion or contraction of the postal coverage afforded to either party. The Viet Minh organized themselves in 6 different administrative districts (Lien Khu) which were not necessarily contiguous due to French intervention. One of these districts below the 16^th parallel, the South Central area of Vietnam remained under the control of the Viet Minh even after the French had re-occupied the South. This was the 5^th Interzone (Lien Ku V.) that consisted of the coastal area just north of Nha Trang to Quinhon, south of Tourane (now called Da Nang). Exhibit 1 shows an approximate map of this area. It was created for administrative purposes in July/August of 1951 by the Viet Minh Congress and was intended as a decentralized civilian administration in support of the centralized military administration.[1]Here the Viet Minh post offices remained open through August 1954[2].

Until November of 1945 Indochinese postage stamps were used even in areas controlled by the Viet Minh.[3]In November of 1945 and through 1946 the Viet Minh started to issue their own postage stamps. For the most part these were Indochinese postage stamps that they had found in the postal archives in Hanoi and that were simply overprinted with the new country name “Viet-Nam Dan-Chu Cong-Hoa” or abbreviated “VNDCCH” (The Peoples Democratic Republic of Vietnam). However, five new stamps with the portrait of Ho Chi Minh were also issued in September 1946.[4] They also featured the country name of ‘Viet-Nam Dan-Chu Cong-Hoa’. Until April, 1946 when the Viet Minh demonetized Indochinese postage stamps, either only VNDCCH stamps or a combination of Indochinese and VNDCCH stamps were used in the area controlled by the Viet Minh.[5]After April 20, only VNDCCH stamps were sold at the post offices; due to scarcity of material, Indochinese stamps, however, could still be used.

On December19^th, 1946, after continual notorious French provocation, the Viet Minh decided to attack French forces in Hanoi. This is known as the “Clash of Hanoi” in the history books. Well prepared, the French hit back and soon took over Hanoi expanding from there into all main towns north of the 16^th parallel over the following months. With the territorial control of the French increasing in the central parts of Vietnam, the communication between the five Interzones located in the North and the 5^th Interzone located in the central part of the South became interrupted, making postal traffic and the exchange of supplies among the districts very difficult and dangerous.[6] This resulted in a severe curtailment of supply shipments. With VNCCH stamps running out in the 5^th Interzone, the civilian administrative district was authorized to issue its own stamps. Economic conditions and the availability of raw materials was very constrained all over the North but in 1950 (the exact date is unknown) the first postage stamps of the 5^th Interzone were issued featuring a portrait of Ho Chi Minh. They also show ‘Viet-Nam Dan-Chu Cong-Hoa’ as the country name. Given the war time conditions, the stamps were a rather primitive affair. They consisted of crude individual handmade clichés that were assembled to a sheet (the exact sheet size is unknown but is thought, based on one surviving sheet fragment, to be at least 20) and printed in monochrome colors using a letterpress method (the Michel Catalogue notation that identifies the printing method of the first stamps as ‘stone print’ is incorrect). All stamps were imperforated and ungummed. Color tones vary slightly between printings. Since the clichés were handmade they also show slight variations in the design. Also for expediency sake, the value in each cliché was left blank, so that a different value could be inserted each time stamps with a different denomination were printed. Nothing is known about the printing quantities for each stamp, but, owed to the material constraints and the scarce postal traffic that was even possible, they must have been small and are likely made on a need basis.

Postal use in all Viet Minh held areas was very low as is evidenced by the scarcity of surviving postal history material. Letters for soldiers typically were free of charge and the same was true for official letters (until July 1953), although exemptions exist. This means only private mail had to be franked and there simply was not much of that. Mail transfers from one Lien Ku to another were organized in “Trams”. These were foot messengers that went through or around French occupied areas.[7] Most mail in the North emanated from large towns or regions under the control of the French and there either Indochinese or French stamps or free franks were used instead of VNCCH stamps.[8]

The Postage Stamps of the 5^th Interzone

No official postal communications are known to survive that define the postage rates and surcharges used from 1950 through 1954 in the 5^th Interzone. However, by observing the very few surviving letters, the following picture has so far emerged[9]:

Approx. Time Frame	Standard Letter Rate	Surcharge for Registered Mail
2nd Quarter 1951	10d	20d
4th Quarter 1951	15d
1st Quarter 1952	30d	60d
2nd Quarter 1952	100d	200d
2nd Quarter 1953	300d	600d
2nd Quarter 1954	500d

 

As one can easily see, inflation was rampant in the 5^th Interzone. This of course presented a problem for the postal administration as constantly new stamps had to be prepared.

Almost no documentation about postal directives appears to have survived the humid climate and the enduring wars the country suffered through many decades. However, an official looking document that purports to be issued by the postal authorities of the 5^th Interzone was obtained by the well known philatelist and Vietnam stamp specialist Theo Klewitz (Exhibit 2). On May10, 1951 the postal authorities of the 5^th Interzone announced in it the future publication of postage stamps for the zone. All in all, 12 different stamps were announced either in honor of Ho Chi Minh’s birthdays (May19,1951 and May19,1952) and for the 2^nd party delegate conference. The stamps announced were:

1d	Violet
3d	Pink
4d	Light red
5d	Green
7d	Deep purple
10d	Lively red
10d	Saffron
25d	Green
35d	Dark red
35d	Green
100d	Dark brown
100d	Brownish Grey

 

The document has been examined by Vietnamese scholars to document its authenticity. The language and writing used in it represent the Vietnamese that was in use at that time. Judging by the uneven spacing of the individual characters it was clearly not produced using a typewriter or computer but by hot metal typesetting. It is likely that the Viet Minh possessed this technology. Contrary to common lore, not all Viet Minh were operating out of the jungle. The 5^thInterzone was a fairly large geographical area that included real towns along with all their infrastructure. All of this supports the authenticity of the document.

On the other hand, there are facts that undermine the authenticity of it. Only three of the stamps announced in the document were ever issued and only two in the approximate colors indicated therein. Also, famous philatelist J.Desrousseaux reported that the civil administration of the 5^th Interzone was established in a meeting of congress between July 16^th and August 2^nd 1951.10 This means the publication of the document would predate the existence of the civil administration of the 5^th Interzone under which authority the document was purported to be issued by a few months. It is of course possible that the Military Government issued the decree ahead of the formation of the civil administration under its own name but that is unlikely as there was no need for the military Government to placate a future civil Government. Further it is odd, that a document published in May of 1951, a time when the standard letter rate was already at 10 Dong in the Lien Khu 5, would announce stamps in the denominations of 1 Dong, 3 Dong, 4 Dong and 5 Dong for issuance later on that year, tariffs that would have had very little possible usage in late 1951. Also strange is the announcement of stamps that essentially spanned over more than one entire year. Did the Government already anticipate rampant inflation and indirectly announce future rates ahead of time? Why, otherwise, were two 100 Dong stamps announced that represented 900% inflation of the standard letter rate over one year? What was the anticipated purpose of these high denomination stamps in 1951? The situation is further complicated by the fact that counterfeits in the exact denomination and colors as indicated on the document were produced in the 1970’s by a former North Vietnamese veteran (see details further on in this publication). Affine to Vietnam’s postal history he might have had information of planned issues and may have had the knowledge to produce the document himself in order to ‘properly’ document his creations and avert suspicion by collectors; or may likewise have “completed” what did not get finished of the announcement. Finally, a very similar and official looking document has appeared that seemingly proves the existence of the stamps later unmasked as pure “cinderellas”produced by the same forger.

But then again, if the forger created this document to “legitimize” his forgeries, why did he cast doubts on it so profoundly by “issuing” stamps and varieties so far beyond what he announced in this document?

We may never know, if the 5^th Interzone publications that have appeared are actually genuine and were just used by the forger to create his products or if he created the publications to make his forgeries more credible. This chicken and egg question will have to be answered by each reader individually.

Although no verified genuine postal announcements are thought to exist, we do know the approximate issuance date of the 5^th Interzone stamps by looking at the few surviving letters and by the date cancels on individual used stamps.

The first batch printed in 1950/1951 had the following denominations11:

Michel Nr.	Denomination	Color
1	1d	Violet-grey
2	5d	Dark green
3	10d	Green blue
4	10d	Lilaq rose
5	15d	Brown

 

Michel states that these stamps were issued in 1950 and some cancels support that year, but written documentation for this is not available.  Other sources, although likewise not proven, indicate the latter part of 1951 as the date of issuance. It is thought that by the time the 1 Dong value was prepared, the postal rates for a single letter was already at least 5 Dong. No single franking of the 1 Dong stamp is known to exist. All ten used 1 Dong stamps can only be found on a single letter sent in January of 1952.  Unused 5^th Interzone stamps are generally much rarer than used stamps. But the 1 Dong stamp is the second most “common” stamp in unused condition of the 22 different 5^th Interzone stamps issued between 1950 and 1954 (though “common” is quite a misnomer for eleven surviving specimens!). Nevertheless, this supports the theory that the 1 Dong stamp was basically obsolete upon issuance. It is unknown, why there are two different color variations for the 10 Dong stamp. 10 Dong was either the most common rate used at the time requiring re-prints and/or, due to material shortages, the same ink simply could not be procured for a second printing run. The additional color variation of the 1 Dong stamp in grey-green originally listed in Michel may well have been an early proof12 as, apart from the color variation it also shows a slightly different cliché from the issued stamps.

With inflation running red hot and an isolated war time economy that essentially had to support itself in absence of any material central Government aid, at least three of the 5 stamps listed above were overprinted with a new value to save on paper. This happened in March of 1952. So far, the following denominations have become known[10]:

Michel Nr.	Denomination	Color
6	30d on 5d	Dark green
6A (not assigned yet)	50d on 15d	Brown
7	60d on 1d	Violet-Grey

 

The overprints for the 30 and 60 Dong value were made in red ink and the one for the 15 Dong value in Black. Again, the clichés for the overprint were made by hand and hence they show slight variations from each other. While the 30 and 60 Dong value represent the standard letter rate and the standard registered letter surcharge, it is not clear why a 50 Dong stamp became necessary. May be the stamp represented a further progression of the standard letter rate after the tariff had been raised to 30 Dong and it was already anticipated that inflation would quickly raise this to 50 Dong? It is also possible, though less likely, that the stamp was produced to save on precious printing paper, when the standard letter rate was raised to 100 Dong in the 2^ndquarter of 1952. In this case, though one would have expected that the overprint would already have been adjusted to 100 Dong as that would have saved even more paper as just one stamp would have been necessary to cover the full cost of a letter.

Inflation kept marching on and by the 2^nd quarter of 1952 a new stamp with a 100 Dong denomination was issued, followed then by higher denominations in 1953. While the image of those new stamps was almost identical to the image of the stamps produced in 1951 they were not printed using the same clichés or plates. Apparently new clichés were carved, a 100 dong stamp issued and then clichés were further retouched as slight differences between 100 and subsequent values suggest. As outlined by Düring14 among other indicators, this can be seen by the words ‘Buu-Chinh’, which are slightly smaller than the same words on the 1951 stamps. Also, while the first issue prints appear slightly “fuzzy” and printing was rather uneven, the second issue looks much sharper and clear. Finally, the nominal value appears to be part of each cliché and was not manually inserted as was the case for the first printing. This is evident by the fact that the partial print failures of the letter “B” in “BUU” that are very common in the first issue do not appear on the second issue. The following denominations were issued[11]:

Michel Nr.	Denomination	Color
8	100d	Light green
9	200d	Orange-Red
10	300d	Blue
11	400d	Red

 

Also in 1953 the first Service Stamps made their first appearance. These were required after the monetary reform in July of 1953. Before this date official mail was transported free of charge.16 These stamps depict a mother with child with a column of soldiers walking away in the rice paddies in the background. This issue is therefore known as “Family Left Behind” in philatelic circles. Apparently, having faced rampant inflation for a while now, the postal authorities decided to denominate these stamps not in Dong but by weight of rice in the husk. This was a rather clever way to avoid having to adjust stamp nominals all the time. Stamps from 50 grams of rice to 1 kilogram of rice were issued. Again, the clichés were manually carved and therefore each stamp in the sheet looks slightly different. Here is an overview of the stamps that were issued17:

Michel Nr.	Denomination	Color
D1	0.05kg rice	Pale red
D2 I	0.3kg rice	Pale red/small Buu-Dien
D2 II	0.3kg rice	Pale red/large Buu-Dien
D3	0.3kg rice	Pale violet
D4	0.6kg rice	Blue-green
D5	0.6kg rice	Violet-blue
D6	1.0kg rice	Green-olive

 

Being service stamps they were only used on official mail of the civil Government. Based on actual postal history observation it can be determined that the standard letter rate in 1953/54 within the 5^th Interzone was 0.3kg rice and the rate for long distance letters (communication with other interzones) stood at 0.6kg rice.18Goanvic speculates on his website (http://www.histoire-et-philatelie.fr/)  that the higher price for the intra-interzones letters was warranted due to the greater difficulties in getting letters through the French lines. Klewitz indicated that the travel time for couriers between the North and South was usually 20 days so one can assume the same was true for the reverse direction19. This time consuming travel would certainly support a higher tariff. In a precursor to the so called ‘Ho-Chi-Minh-Trail’, mail was already routed through neighboring Laos in order to make North-South and South-North travel less hazardous.20 It is unclear why the 0.05kg and 1.0kg denominations were required. Desrousseaux speculated that the 0.05kg value was intended for printed matter but due to lack of preserved letters this cannot be proven. The various colors of the most common used stamps (0.3kg rice and 0.6kg rice) supports the theory that postal authorities used whatever color they could get their hands on to produce stamps when they were needed. Michel lists two types of the 0.3kg rice stamp in pale red color. The first version shows a smaller version of ‘Buu-Dien’ than the second version that is a bit larger. Since no complete sheets are known to have survived, it is unknown if these two versions were just the result of different clichés on the same sheet or actually represent two different printings using different plates.

In 1954 some Ho Chi Minh stamps of the first (overprinted) and second issue were repurposed for official use by overprinting them with the words ‘Tem Su Vu’ and the new value in kilo rice. The overprint was in black. The original value of the stamps was obliterated by vertical black lines. The following stamps are known to exist[12]:

Michel Nr.	Denomination	Color
7	0.3kg rice over 30 Dong in red over 5 Dong	Dark green
8	0.05kg rice over 300 Dong	Blue
9 (but unassigned yet)	0.3kg rice over 15 Dong	Brown

 

By 1954 the low denominations of the 1951/1952 overprint issue had become redundant and to save on paper and make the stamps useful again they were overprinted. The 0.3kg and 0.6kg rice nominal did not change until 1954 when the 5^th Interzone was disbanded by the Geneva Convention. This indicates that the Viet Minh plan to use kilo rice as the nominal value actually did serve its purpose.

Global Inventory of the Postage Stamps of the 5^th Interzone

Since the stamps were encountered by Theo Klewitz and his Vietnamese contacts, it became quickly clear that the number of genuine surviving 5^th Interzone stamps was very small. This can be attributed to the relative political isolation of the Viet Minh Government, the limited use, the continued wars that ravaged the country until 1975 and the difficult climatic conditions under which paper disintegrates in a few years. Also, one has to keep in mind that no Viet Minh soldier or civilian would have wanted to be seen in possession of Viet Minh stamps as this would have quasi confirmed the enemy status of that person to the French troops. It is therefore likely that a lot of envelopes were destroyed on purpose.

In 2016, the Society of Indochinese Philatelist (SICP) published an article in its quarterly journal that was the first attempt, to establish the known quantities of genuine 5^th Interzone stamps.22 This was quite an undertaking as it involved studying a number of historical publications that dealt with these stamps and consultation among the various experts on these stamps within the SICP. Given the overwhelming number of counterfeit stamps on the market (see later on in this paper) only stamps that had physically been seen by an SICP member known to be very familiar with the genuine stamps were included in the count. Duplicates that had appeared in older publications and auction catalogues were eliminated. Luckily, most of these stamps are so unique (due to their cancels, faults, the way they were cut and their variable print) that it was fairly easy to recognize them and avoid double counts.

Here is the rather informative result of this global count:

Michel Nr.	Nominal Value	Color	# Mint	# Used
1	1 Dong	Violet-Grey	11	10
2	5 Dong	Dark Green	6	25
3	10 Dong	Green-Blue	0	6
4	10 Dong	Lilaq-Rose	1	7
5	15 Dong	Brown	2	8
6	30 Dong on 5 Dong	Dark-Green	3	13
6A	50 Dong on 15 Dong	Brown	0	1
7	60 Dong on 1 Dong	Violet-Grey	3	4
8	100 Dong	Light-Green	0	4
9	200 Dong	Orange-Red	0	4
10	300 Dong	Blue	0	3
11	500 Dong	Red	0	1
D1	0.050kg Rice	Pale-Red	0	5
D2 I	0.300kg Rice	Pale-Red	0	4
D2 II	0.300kg Rice	Pale-Red	0	7
D3	0.300kg Rice	Matte-Violet	0	13
D4	0.600kg Rice	Blue-Green	0	3
D5	0.600kg Rice	Violet-Blue	0	2
D6	1.000kg Rice	Green-Olive	0	3
D7	0.300kg Rice on 30 Dong on 5 Dong	Dark Green	16	11
D8	0.050kg Rice on 300 Dong	Blue	0	3
D9	0.300kg Rice on 15 Dong	Brown	0	1
Total			42	138

 

The service stamps Michel Nr. I, II and III were not included in this table as the official character of these stamps is in question. So far, none of these stamps have been documented on genuine letters of the period or with genuine cancels in use at the time in the 5^th Interzone. Known examples are either mint or show fake or favor cancels.

The author of the SICP article does not represent that the above count is complete and an accurate reflection of all LK V stamps in existence. Clearly, it is to be expected that some specimen lie in collections that have not seen the light of day for a long time or in the collection of very private philatelists who prefer their material not to be known to the public. However, given the fact that most stamps that were passed on over the past 60 years from the original collector generation to later collector generations remain essentially the same, and that hardly any „new“ inventory of these stamps come to the market, as witnessed by the author’s over 20 years of studying collection websites and public auctions, it is also fair to assume that this „unknown“ inventory is not very large.

Interesting but not necessarily surprising is the finding that, generally, the number of mint stamps is much lower than the inventory of used stamps and that of many issues not even a single specimen was preserved in mint condition. This is especially true for the Service stamps. One has to understand that these stamps were not produced for collectors, but they represented issues for South-Central Vietnam, that became necessary, because the 5^th Interzone area controlled by the Viet Minh was isolated by French troop intervention and so whatever supplies of overprinted Indochinese stamps or Ho Chi Minh stamps (NVN Michel Nr- 2 to 6) in use in the North at the time were initially still available in the LK V, could not be replenished to the area.23 A shortage of certain nominals also was caused by the fact that postal rates in the Lien Khu 5 differed from the rates in force in the rest of the Viet Minh controlled areas.24 The civil administration of the 5^th Interzone was established in July/August 1951 on a consolidated basis of Regions 5 ,6 and 15 (Highlands subdivision). The 5^th Interzone included provinces as Quang Nam , Da Nang , Quang Ngai , Central Highlands (Gia Lai), Cong Tum , Dak Lak , Lam Dong) , Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Binh Thuan, Dac Lac, Lam Vien, Dong Nai Thuong and Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang) . Hoai Nhon (Binh Dinh) was the ” capital ” of the 5^th Interzone25.

In counting the used stamps, the author did not distinguish between stamps on or off cover. They were all counted as used. Also, the author did not eliminate any damaged stamps from the count. Based on damage that is visible from the front of the stamps, at least 20% of the total inventory shows imperfections. The postal officers that cut or tore these stamps from the sheets were not particularly careful. Often some part of the design was simply cut or torn off, although the clear space between the stamps in the sheet was actually pretty large. Some stamps received the same treatment when envelopes were opened by scissor. It is clear, that additional imperfections (paper thins) were created when the stamps affixed by a starch-rich rice glue were taken off cover unprofessionally. Clearly, damaged stamps do not hold the same value as sound copies, but it would be highly imprudent to reject such stamps entirely for one’s collection by applying preservation standards for stamps that were produced and used under much less challenging conditions. Let’s keep in mind that most of these 5^th Interzone stamps are rarer than the fabled Blue and Red Mauritius stamps (12 and 15 surviving copies respectively, mint and used)! Some of the issues (Michel Nr. 6A, 11 and D9) so far are actually as rare as the world’s most expensive stamps, the British Guyana 1 cent magenta that sold for $9,480,000 in 2014 and Sweden’s Tre Skilling Banco color misprint that sold for SFR 2.88 million (approximately U.S.$2.3 million) in 2010!26

This comparison of course leads one to the difficult field of relative value of these 5^th Interzone stamps. Today, the only catalogue listing LK V stamps is the Michel catalogue (Suedostasien 2017). In any attempt to assess the value of those stamps, it will be important to not only look at their relative number of copies still in existence, but also, at their state of concentration. Michel Nr. 1 is a good example for this. While there are 11 stamps mint and 10 used, in existence, these stamps are highly concentrated in 3 items. All used copies are on a single letter and no one would ever dream of taking these stamps off. The mint stamps known exist in one strip of 5, one strip of 3, and three single stamps. Again, no reasonable philatelist would ever cut apart a unit, as there are only 3 mint units left overall across all 5^th Interzone stamps that include more than one stamp. A similar situation exists with Michel Nr. 3 where 3 of the 6 used stamps are found on a single cover; and to a lesser degree Michel Nr. 6 where 10 of the 13 used specimens are on a single letter.

These considerations will then have to be played against the true demand in the market for those issues which to assess also provides for a substantial challenge: individual 5^th Interzone stamps hardly ever come to market (often, they move from one collector to another in a private transaction) and hence, there is no public record of the prices paid. Also, until recently, the surviving quantities of these stamps was unknown to philatelists and now, that the absolute and relative scarcity of these stamps will become more widely known may lead to greater demand than before. Further, the flood of fake 5^th Interzone stamps produced in Vietnam and most likely Hong Kong, still offered, by reputable, but ignorant auction houses, have created a great deal of insecurity among Vietnam stamp collectors who are understandably reluctant to buy yet another fake copy for a lot of money.

All these circumstances need to be taken into account when assessing, whether a price tag of e.g. €4,000 or €5,000 reflects the proper value of a stamp of which only a single copy currently is known to exist.

The idea of this brochure is therefore to provide information to collectors worldwide along with a depiction of all known, genuine 5^th Interzone stamps so that in acquiring any of these stamps they have the security to get the genuine item.

Some philatelist believe, that none of these stamps should ever be shown in a publication as this would only attract additional and better fakes but these beliefs are misguided. First, there are already scans of genuine stamps available in publications and these have not resulted in newly created “better” fakes. Also, these stamps are not easy to fake as everyone, whoever has seen genuine and fake stamps side by side, can attest to. The way the color is absorbed by the paper, the often, uneven letterpress print that differs a bit from stamp to stamp and the handmade rice paper itself is very hard to imitate. Also, since most copies are in fact used and have very characteristic cancellations, creating convincing duplicates becomes even harder. Creating a reliable and professional reference standard that allows collectors to distinguish originals and fakes will in fact make it much harder for new fakes to be accepted by the philatelic community and will over time unmask all the fake stamps that are out there and hence become a bulwark against counterfeits.

So while not all philatelist known to own genuine 5^th Interzone stamps have participated in the publication of this paper it is expected that, similar, to the very detailed record available for the 27 Mauritius stamps, this paper will eventually be able to document all known specimens in great detail and hence provide the certainty that collectors require. Collectors who would like their genuine stamps to be included in future editions of this paper can submit a high-resolution scan (600dpi minimum) of both sides of each stamp to northrock.info@gmail.com. The stamp will then be examined by at least three experts of the Society of Indochinese Philatelists (whose members also serve to expertise Indochina stamps for the American Philatelic Society) to ensure that it is in fact genuine. In some cases an original submission may be required but for most cases a high resolution scan should be sufficient. Make sure to include a detailed description of all faults or repairs and the provenance of the stamp (as far as known).

Counterfeit and Cinderella Stamps of the 5^th Interzone

 The Society of Indochinese Philatelists (www.sicp-online.org), created in 1971 to support the exchange of information among stamp collectors about Indochina, Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam, has in its ranks the foremost specialist and experts on Vietnam philately. It can draw on the knowledge and expertise of great philatelists such as the late J.Desrousseaux and the late T.Klewitz, to name just a few. Searching through its archives of publications it appears, that the fake and fantasy issues concerning the 5^th Interzone became known sometime in the early 1970s. Initially they were only sold in Vietnam but quickly made their way into auction catalogues worldwide. Members first took these newly discovered issues very seriously as the material that was sold was well made and looked like it could be genuine. It also came in some instances with documentation that looked like official stamp announcements by the postal authorities of the 5^th Interzone. However, over a few years, and after consulting with the Philatelic Society of Vietnam, it became clear that all these newly appearing stamps were either fakes or cinderellas. Since then the Society has been warning collectors about acquiring them. On their website (www.sicp.org) here is a section under ‘Fake and Fantasies’ that allows collectors worldwide to read up on these issues even if they are not members of the Society.

The Society went even further. To track down where the fakes were coming from, members of the Society visited Vietnam to find the forger. The late Joe Cartafalsa was a pioneer in rooting out the details. On the SICP website Joe reports: ‘Later during that trip, I learned that the forger was a retired Viet Minh soldier who had been a fighter in LK5 during the war against the French. He was disabled, and given a job in the History Museum in Hanoi after the French defeat. Sometime before 1975 (1975 is when his fakes were first sold outside Vietnam in Europe and the United States), this veteran used his time in the museum to learn about the names of the party members, their families, addresses, etc. The fakes were produced along with postal markings and cachets. I also learned that the forger died around 1997.’ The name of the forger was Tran Ngoc Chuong, as determined by SICP President, Richard Aspnes in a subsequent visit to his family. It is a fact that no additional reprints of  fake 5^th Interzone stamps have surfaced in the last two decades. But, of course, the damage had already been done. Numerous philatelist worldwide, who had never seen a genuine 5^thInterzone stamps were duped to buy individual stamps at over $100 a piece and complete covers that were often priced in excess of $1,000. Today virtually all 5^th Interzone stamps offered on E-Bay, Delcampe, by auction houses and dealers are fakes. The idea of this publication is to change that and provide collectors with the confidence so that they distinguish originals from fakes and can only acquire genuine 5^th Interzone stamps.

Fakes  

 Faked stamps so far have been identified as being from two different proveniences:

The “Hanoi” fakes

Tran Ngoc Chuong was a rather prolific forger. The variety in fake Ho Chi Minh- and Family left behind- stamps he produced is staggering. Apart from nominals that had actually been issued in the 5^thInterzone (true fakes) he also produced nominals that never existed, nominals that existed but in different colors and of course numerous fake ‘Tem Su VU’ overprints (all of which could also be referred to then as fantasies or cinderellas). If one can compare them to the originals, the fakes are actually pretty easy to spot but since the available number of originals is very limited they were nevertheless effective.

The “Hong Kong” fakes; stamps of this origin started to show on the market place in the early 90ies. Whether or not they truly stem from a Hong Kong source, cannot ultimately be proven; typically this group of fakes/fantasies is crafted more skillfully

Characteristics allowing to discriminate between genuine and fake, both of “Hanoi” and “Hong Kong” origin, have been presented in detail in a SICP publication in 201227. It’s contents is still valid with the following exception as it provides supplementary information for the assessment of overprints:

-the red overprints of the original reflect bright red under UV Light while that of the fakes reflects dark red.

Below are non-exhaustive assortments of (scans for each group)

Ho Chi Minh fakes- of the “Hanoi provenience”:

Here is an example of a mixture of fake and fantasy cover. The 30 Dong on 5 Dong in blue was never issued, while the 60 Dong on 1 Dong violet-grey existed but is represented by a fake. All markings or cancels are fakes.

Ho Chi Minh- fakes of the “Hong Kong provenience”:

Family left behind- fakes of the “Hanoi provenience”:

Even complete letters with fake markings and cancels were produced:

Cinderellas

Below is an assortment of issues that were never authorized or issued by the post office. As a result, they should be referred to as “Cinderellas” or fantasy issues rather than forgeries no matter whether with or without overprints or whether on or off cover:

These also appear on fantasy covers which show fake markings and cancels:

 Again, fantasy covers with fake markings and cancels exist:

Here is an example of a fake and cinderella/fantasy cover of the Ho Chi Minh issue (Hanoi Fake):

The 30 Dong on 5 Dong is fake (as this nominal was in fact issued) while the 5 Dong on 10 Dong is of pure fantasy. All markings/cancels are fake.

 Genuine 5^th Interzone Ho Chi Minh Stamps

This chapter of this paper is dedicated to individually list and describe the known and surviving specimens of 5^th Interzone stamps that have been determined to be genuine by at least three experts of the SICP. The panel of experts will consist of the long-time SICP members Lu, Düring, Goanvic and Gebhardt. So far this listing is incomplete, as some collectors are not yet willing to publish depictions of their genuine stamps. We hope that the listing will become more complete as time goes on.

Ho Chi Minh Issue

1 Dong, violet grey 1950/51

 

Mint copies.

 Multiples

Unique strip of five. Largest known unit of this stamp. Paper fold between second and third stamp from the left. Small stains at bottom left, bottom and top of the first stamp on left. Stain at bottom of fourth stamp from the left. Small stain to the right shoulder of HCM and bottom right of the fifth stamp from the left. Hinge traces on the first and fifth stamp but no paper thins. Paper shows tropical toning. Provenance: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), Gebhardt (SICP member).

Singles

Clean, unused copy with large margins; very light toning at left and right bottom areas:

Proof ?

 

This is most likely the formerly listed Michel No. 2 grey-green version of the 1 dong value. The stamp listed for the first time in the 1965/66 edition of Michel’s “Übersee Katalog”. It shows key elements of the genuine final version such as the separately inserted value field but was printd of a different cliché. It was removed from listing as of the 2015 version of the catalogueas it most likely represents a non-issued proof; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

Used copies

No used copy off cover are known to exist of this value.

5 Dong, dark-green 1950/1951

Mint copies

 Mint with hinge. Small thin below hinge. Some age stains on the back (middle right). Provenance: Vaclav Fejtek (Czech collector), D.Schwichtenberg (Daughter of Feijtek), Gebhardt (SICP Member)

Mint with hinge. Small age spot top right margin. Provenance: Vincent Longins, France, Gebhardt (SICP Member)

Proof ?

 

Stamp shows key elements of the genuine final version such as the separately inserted value field but was printed using a different cliché; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

Used Copies

Block of four on piece. Largest known unit of this stamp. Cancelled with circular Hoai Nhon Buu Dien canceler and manual insertion of date. In addition, rectangular date cancel showing 2.12.50. This is evidence that these stamps were produced and used already in 1950. Bottom left stamp surface abrasion on top of stamp eliminating “NA” in “Vietnam”. Bottom right stamp showing larger surface abrasions on the right side of the stamp. Provenance: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), Gebhardt (SICP member).

 

Single on piece; slight toning left of forefront; provenience: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), N.N.

Used, circular cancel “Phong Bat Biet”. Cut on the left just touching the print image. Small thins on back in center and at top of the stamp. Provenance: V.Longin (France), Gebhardt (SICP Member)

Used, rectangular Buu Dien cancel illegible (Thanh-Hoa?). Tight margins but not touching the image. Tiny pin prick hole just below “5”.

10 Dong Red 1950/1951

Used Copies

Single on piece; provenience: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), N.N.

Proof ?

 

Stamp shows key elements of the genuine final version such as the separately inserted value field but is printed of a different cliché, here, no value yet inserted; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

 

 30 Dong red on 5 Dong dark green 1952/1953

Mint

Mint with hinge. Tiny pin prick at middle/bottom of image. Provenance: Vaclav Fejtek (Czech Collector), D.Schwichtenberg (Daughter of Feijtek), Gebhardt (SICP Member)

Used

Used with illegible circular cancel. Stamp was initially missing a small art of the design     “M” in Vietnam and “VN”. Expertly restored. Some margin added to right side.

Provenance: V.Longin (France), Gebhardt (SICP Member).

Used with circular but illegible canceler. Wide margins. Small paper thin on back at bottom left. Provenance: V.Longin (France), Gebhardt (SICP Member).

On Cover

Mono-franking of 10 copies of 30 dong on 5 dong on cover; one pair (folded at rim of cover) and 2 untouched blocks of four (cover manually folded after franking);provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

50 Dong black on 15 Dong brown 1952/1953

 

Mint

 No mint copy known to exist

Used

Used with circular date canceler from Hoai Nhon on June 15^th (1952?) and blue pen manuscript. Only known specimen of this stamp. Small tear on top right, barely affecting the image. Larger paper thin on back at the top. Provenance: V.Longin (France), Gebhardt (SICP Member)

60 Dong violet grey 1952/1953

 

Mint

 Mint vertical pair

100 Dong light green 1952/1953

Used with cancel fragment showing “Ngay” and “54”. Horizontal paper fold through center of the stamp caused by attaching it to a creased envelope. Marked with a “L” in circle (Lucian Lu’s SICP expert mark) Provence: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), Gebhardt (SICP member).

Wide margin copy plus fragment of second stamp on piece; cancelled with manuscript date April 21; provenience: N.N.

 

200 dong, red 1953

Used

Provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

300 dong, blue 1953

On cover

Provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

 500 dong, red 1953

Used

            Provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

0.050 kg rice on 300 dong blue 1954

Single used copy on piece; provenience: provenience: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), N.N.

300g rice on 30 Dong on 5 Dong 1954

Mint

Mint with hinge. Small margins but not cutting into design. Tiny age spot on HCM’s forehead. Provenance: Klewitz (SICP Member), Schwirtz (SICP Member), Gebhardt (SICP Member)

MNH copy, ink handwriting on back; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

Used off cover

Used with illegible circular date canceler. Wide margins. Marked with a “L” in  circle (Lucian Lu’s expert mark). Provenance: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), Gebhardt (SICP member).

Used with an illegible circular date canceler. Wide margins. Provenance: This stamp was in a Vietnamese gold medal collection until 2002 (name of the collector known but withheld for privacy reasons) when it was acquired SICP member Palladino.

On Cover

Provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

Service Stamps (‘Familiy left behind issue’)

0.050 g rice red 1953

Mint

No mint stamps known to exist

Used

Pair; right stamp with water mark  ; provenience Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

300g Rice pale red, large Buu Dien Inscription 1953

Mint

No mint stamps known to exist

Used

 with circular canceler showing “Phu-Yen” and a date of April 4 (1953?). Hinged with a small paper thin on center back. Small paper separation not affecting the image on back. Marked with a “L” in circle (Lucian Lu’s expert mark). Provenance: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), Gebhardt (SICP member).

300 g rice, pale red, small Buu Dien inscription 1953

 

Mint

 No mint stamps known to exist

Used

 Provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

On Cover

300 g rice, small and large Buu Dien inscription on cover to Ho Chi Minh, 14.1.1954, backstamped Tam Ky, 17.1.1954; friendship handstamp on back;          Provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

300 g rice, large Buu Dien inscription on cover to Chinh Thu mailed on February 12^nd, most likely in 1954. Provenience: Ted Hallock, David Fosters.

300g rice pale violet 1953

 

Mint

 No mint stamps known to exist

Used

Used with circular canceler showing “Phong Bac”. Irregular cut. 3 wide margins but just cut into design at bottom left of the stamp. Provenance: D.Foster (SICP Member), Gebhardt (SICP Member).

Used pair; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

On cover

Cover sent to Ho Chi Minh, 11.9.1953, backstamped Tam Ky, 13.9.1953; two singles tied to cover; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

600g rice blue-green 1953

 Mint

 No mint stamps known to exist

Used

Used with circular canceler “Buu Dien”. Large margins. Small paper thin on back at bottom left of the stamp. Provenance: Klewitz (SICP Member), Duering (SICP Member), Gebhardt (SICP Member).

Used; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

600 g rice, violet-blue 1953

Mint

No mint stamps known to exist

On cover

 Two singles on cover tied by cancel, 2.1.1954, backstamped Tam Ky, 7.1.1954; provenience: Trinh Xuân-Côn (secretary to prime minister’s office), T. Klewitz, N.N.

1.000g rice, green 1953

 

Mint

 

No mint copies known to exist

Used

Used copy; on hinged piece, marked with a “L” in circle (Lucian Lu’s expert mark), provenience: Tran Nguyen (former Postmaster of North Vietnam), Tran Trong Khai, Father Linh Bui, Lucian Lu (SICP member), N.N.

[1] Desrousseaux, J.,  Les Postes et Courriers Francais en Extreme-Orient, Livre 6, page 431

[2] J.Desrousseaux; SICP Journal III Nr. 3 of June 1973, Whole Nr. 12

[3] J.Desrousseaux; SICP Journal III Nr. 3 of June 1973, Whole Nr. 12

[4] J.Desrousseaux; SICP Journal III Nr. 3 of June 1973, Whole Nr. 12

[5] J.Desrousseaux; SICP Journal III Nr. 3 of June 1973, Whole Nr. 12

[6] Desrousseaux, J., Les Postes et Courriers Francais en Extreme-Orient, COL.FRA, Livre 6, pages 430-435

[7] Dessrousseaux, J., The Indochinese Philatelist , November 1973, Whole Number 14

[8] J.Desrousseaux; SICP Journal III Nr. 3 of June 1973, Whole Nr. 12

[9] J.Goanvic; L’Indochine Francaise Dans La Tourmente 1939-1955; http://www.histoire-et-philatelie.fr/pages/008_indo/5000_page_de_garde_indochine.html

10 J. Desrousseaux; Les Postes et Courriers Francais en Extreme-Orient, Livre 6; Page 431

11 Michel Suedostasien 2017

12 F.Duering, Supplement ICP Journal Whole Nr.204; September 2012

[10] Michel Suedostasien 2017

14 F.Duering, Supplement ICP Journal Whole Nr.204; September 2012

[11] Michel Suedostasien 2017

16 Desrousseaux, J.,  Journal of the Society of Indochinese Philatelists SICP, Nr. 14, November 1973

17 Michel Suedostasien 2017

18 J.Goanvic; L’Indochine Francaise Dans La Tourmente 1939-1955; http://www.histoire-et-philatelie.fr/pages/008_indo/5000_page_de_garde_indochine.html

19 T.Klewitz, Supplement to SICP Journal Whole Nr. 200, November 2011

20 Desrousseaux, J., Les Postes et Courriers Francais en Extreme-Orient, COL.FRA, Livre 6, pages 430-435

[12] Michel Suedostasien 2017

22 Gebhardt, K.,  Journal of the Society of Indochinese Philatelists SICP, Volume XLVI Nr.3, May 2016,

23 T.Klewitz, Supplement to SICP Journal Whole Nr. 200, November 2011

24 J.Desrousseaux, The Indochinese Philatelist, November 1973, Page 22

25 Tran Trong Khai, On Postage Stamps of Democratic Republic of Vietnam issued by local post (1951-1954)

26 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treskilling_Yellow/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Guiana_1c_magenta

27 F.Duering, Supplement ICP Journal Whole Nr.204; September 2012

 

Registration Nr. 090026