Flowers

North Vietnam, Flowers, April/May 1st, 1974; Michel Nr. A756-758; Four stamps in the nominals of 6 xu and 12 xu (three stamps) were issued in perforation 11.0. Given that the 6 xu value received a Michel Nr. starting with an “A” means that it was unknown when the catalogue numbers were awarded for the set. The reason for the delayed discovery is not known. The 6 xu value covered the tariff for domestic post cards and intra-city mail. While the stamp was initially very rare (as supply of the stamp entered the market slowly) that is no longer the case today. Plenty of mint stamps have come to market however, postal use of the stamp in the 1970’s is still pretty rare.

Here is the mint set:

Mint blocks of four:

These stamps were not officially released im-perforated, however, a handful of im-perforated trial proofs have come to market. Here are three of them:

Very rare multiple franking of the 6xu stamp on a local letter sent from Hanoi to Saigon in September of 1975.

Local letter mailed within Hanoi from June of 1975. It is not clear why the sender did not avail himself/herself of the intra-city rate that was still in force at the time. Instead a 12 xu stamp was used that covered the domestic standard letter rate.

Another local letter sent from Hanoi to Saigon in February of 1976 paying the domestic letter rate of 12xu.

Another single franking of the 12xu Flower stamp but this time used on a letter (full contents preserved) sent from Hanoi to Jena, Germany in 1974.

Rare single franking of the 12xu Chrysanthemum stamp on a local letter sent shortly after the liberation of Saigon to Hanoi on July 4th, 1975. Note that the old Saigon cancel now features the letters “M.N.” (=South Vietnam) signifying the control of the National Liberation front over the city.

Here is the same franking but this time on a letter sent by a member of the North Vietnamese Armed Forces to Jena in East Germany.

Rare single franking of the 12 xu value used in May of 1975 between two members of the military (Note the the Hom Thu numbers in both sender and address lines). The red hand stamp fragment may represent a military divisional marking.

Single franking of the turquoise 12 xu stamp on a domestic letter sent from Lam Thao to Lang Giang in 1975. Lang Giam arrival cancel on the reverse.

Mixed franking of the rarely used 6xu stamp together with a range of other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 1.88D on an air-mail letter sent from Hanoi to France in 1975.

Very rare registered express mail letter to Klewitz from October of 1974 featuring the entire im-perforated wild animal set. Im-perforated stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The letter also features the tree 12 xu flower stamps that were known at the time. The 6 xu stamp was not included (which Klewitz would have normally done) which means that in October of 1974 the existence of the 6 xu stamp was not yet known. At 3.14 Dong it appears to be over-franked as the required tariff for a standard 20 gram registered letter to West Germany only amounted to 1.60 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse.

Mixed franking including the two tones of the 12 xu values 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).

Letter mailed from Hanoi to Oxford, England in May of 1975. It carries the set plus an assortment of other NVN stamps including the 6 xu flower stamp that is rare on postal history. Overall postage amounted to 2.90 Dong which appears to be high given that the standard 20 gram registered express mail letter to Western Europe amounted to 2.10, however the letter may have been heavier than the standard 20 grams.

Air mail with a mixed franking sent to Paris, France in April of 1974. Postage of 74 xu which includes two of the 12 xu flower stamps.

Mixed franking of the red 40xu Aircraft Shot down value together with the 12xu Flower value for an overall postage of 52xu on a letter sent from Hanoi to East Germany in February of 1974.

Rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in December of 1978. It features one of the 12 xu flower stamps plus a range of other NVN stamps from the period. The overall postage amounted to 5.74 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Fulda green custom cachet on front.

Rare registered express mail letter set to Klewitz in December of 1970. It carries one of the 12 xu stamps plus other NVN stamps from the period for an overall postage of 5.77 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Fulda green custom cachet on front.

Very rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in October of 1980. It carries the souvenir sheet for HCM’s 70th Birthday and a 20 xu Year of the Child that shows a small perforation error (missing perforation holes). Souvenir sheets on postally used cover are very rare. There is also a 6 xu Flower stamp. The overall postage amounted to 4.82 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse.

Registern letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in July of 1983. It features three stamps (Michel Nr. 1187) with a double printing of the red color and one stamp with a smeared “V” in “Vietnam”. There is also a Ho Chi Minh stamp that shows an obscured “30” (bottom stamp). Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. Three of the Flower stamps on the reverse. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 12.6 Done (including the red free frank of 9.8 Dong. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Ho Chi Minh City) to Klewitz in January of 1982. The letter carries Michel Nr. 1188 in two different color tones plus some other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 8.20 Dong. Three Flower stamps on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare registered express mail letter sent from Dien Bien Phu to Klewitz in April of 1980. It carries pairs of the set plus the rare 6 xu Flower stamp and parts of the Dien Bien Phu set for an overall postage of 4.81 Dong. Unusual hand-written R-label. Fulda arrival cancel the reverse. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Very large registered envelope that features the entire perforated Soccer set. There are also a pair of the 1974 Flower series im-perforated and the rarer Post Master Perforation (15) of the 12 xu Lotus stamp. Im-perfroated stamps and Post Master Perforations on postally used cover are very rare. On front there is pair of the 1976 military free frank in both color variations the stamp is known. Military free franks were not valid for international postage due to their lacking nominal value, however it appears that the postal clerk was not familiar with that rule. The overall postage amounted to 23.13 Dong (including the red free frank for 9 Dong). Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in November of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The carries a block of four of the Communist Party value on which the lower left stamp shows the plate error “broken VIETNAM”. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The letter also carries the rare 6xu Flower stamp from 1974 plus stamps from the World Communication Year, Friendship Contract and Union Congress stamps for an overall postage of 216.68 old Dong. The military free frank from 1981 was technically not valid for international mail as it lacked any displayed nominal value but apparently was accepted by the postal clerk. The Vietnamese Government conducted a currency reform on September 14th, 1985 by which the Dong was devalued by 10:1. This meant that all the stamps on this cover were only worth one tenth of their face value at the time of mailing (=21.66 nD). Together with the red free frank of 1.3 nD the overall postage of the letter amounted to 22.96nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.