Group Flight Wostok 5 and Wostock 6

North Vietnam, Group Flight of Wostok 5 and Wostok 6, March 25th, 1964, Michel Nr. 298-300; Three stamps in the nominals of 12 xu (two stamps) and 30 xu were issued. The set was released perforated (11.0) and imperforate.

Here is the mint perforate set.

Here is the mint imperforate set:

First Day Cover featuring the imperforate set on a letter that was sent through the mail to Moscow. Moscow arrival cancel on the reverse. The required postage was only 12 xu so the letter was over-franked.

Very rare single franking of the 12xu value on a local letter addressed to Cho Don-Bac Kan. This is a rather late usage (1975) of the stamp that had been released eleven years earlier. This nicely demonstrates that the socialist Government kept the domestic postage rates the same from 1960 through 1977. Most local letters were destroyed in the multi-decadal war, the tropical climate and recycling due to to raw material shortages. This letter was mailed after the end of the war in 1975 so it had a slightly better chance to survive nut nevertheless, still very hard to find.

Here is the exact same franking of the 12xu value on a letter sent to Czechoslovakia. All single frankings are rare but because letters sent abroad were more likely to be kept and collected they are easier to find than domestic letters.

Here is a letter mailed to Theo Klewitz in West Germany in April of 1964. It contains the entire set plus the rare imperforate set of the Wostok 5 and Wostok 6 group space flight. Imperforate stamps on postally used covers are very rare. The overall postage amounted to 1.52 Dong. The standard letter rate for a 20 gram registered letter to West Germany was 1.1 Dong, so this letter must have been heavier than the standard.

A printed matter mailing by Xunhasaba, mailed to Hamburg Germany. Carrying the 30xu Wostok 5 stamp plus other NVN stamps for a total postage of 74 xu.

Mixed franking of the 12xu and 30xu Wostock stamps on a rare registered letter with other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 1.92D. Sent to the editor of a newspaper called “The People” in East Germany.

Mixed franking using two of the 12xu Flower values together with other NVN stamps for an overall franking of 92xu to a newspaper editor in East Germany. Sent in April of 1964. The letter carried the remark “Einschreiben” (=Registered Mail) and was franked to cover the 60xu surcharge but in the end the letter was sent by standard mail.