Hai Phong Harbor

North Vietnam, Hai Phong Harbor, November 7th, 1961, Michel Nr. 183-184; Two stamps were issued with nominals of 5 xu and 12 xu perforated 11:0. 500,000 sets were produced.

Here is the mint set in blocks of four:

These stamps were not officially released imperforate however a small number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Rare!

Here is a single proof of the 12xu stamp that also shows the positional marks surrounding the stamp. It was most likely cut from a larger sheetlet.

Here is a color error on the 5xu stamp. The left stamp shows the normal intensive grey-green color and the right stamp the error “bright grey-green” (as per the Michel Color Guide).

Rare single franking of the 12xu value on a letter (full contents preserved) sent from Hanoi to Prague, Czechoslovakia from December of 1961.

Identical franking of the 12 xu stamp on a letter from Hanoi to Czechoslovakia from 1962.

Here is an air mail letter sent to Klewitz in West Germany that features the complete set. The overall postage of 17 xu was however, too little for a letter to West Germany (standard letter rate 50 xu) but the clever sender wrote “CHDC Duc” at the bottom of the address which stood for “East Germany”. The postal clerk therefore applied the reduced 12 xu standard letter rate to fellow socialist countries.

Mixed franking of the 5xu value together with the 20xu Air Mail stamp and the 50xu Artit Congress stamp for an overall postage of 75xu mailed from Nghe-An (small post office) to France. The standard letter tariff to France amounted to 50xu so this letter must have been of the second weight level.

Very rare use of the 5xu value on a First Flight Cover sent on May 12th (the flight apparently had been delayed from April 28th) to Royal Air Cambodge in Hanoi (Poste Restante). The letter arrived in Hanoi on May 14th as per the arrival cancel on the reverse. It was clear that the airline wanted the letter returned (After 3 days return…) so a 5xu Hai Phong Harbor stamp was added on the reverse that was cancelled on June 6, 1964 for the return journey.

Mixed franking of the 5xu Hai Phong stamp, the 4xu Start of the War and the 3xu Five Year Plan stamp for an overall franking of 12xu paying the correct letter rate to Czechoslovakia in 1963.

Colorful mixed franking of the 30xu Artist stamp with other NVN stamps (including the 5xu Hai Phong Harbor stamp) for an overall postage of 72xu. The letter, sent from Bin Luc (small post office) was addressed to Theo Klewitz in West Germany and so should have cost 50xu postage plus 60xu registration fee for a total of 1.10D. However, the sender only wrote “Germany” on the envelope leaving it open if the letter was going to East or West Germany. The postal clerk hence accepted the lower 12xu postage to East Germany by mistake.

Very rare large envelope mailed registered and via express mail to Klewitz in July of 1972 Apart from pair of 5 xu stamps it also carries im-perforated stamps of the artist and writer as well as the fish stamp set. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The overall postage amounted to 2.02 Dong which appears to be in line with the postal tariff for such a large envelope.

Another very rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in July of 1972. The letter features the im-perforated stamps of the wood cut series plus a block of ten of the harbor stamp. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The overall postage here amounted to 1.80 Dong which may have been a bit above the required tariff of 1.60 Dong.

Mixed franking using the 12xu Harbor stamp plus one 12xu Titow stamp for an overall 24xu postage on a letter from Hanoi to East Germany. Since the required tariff up to 20g was only 12xu this letter must have belonged to the second weight level.

Very rare letter mailed registered and via express mail to Klewitz in July of 1972. It features a pair of the 12 xu stamps plus an im-perforated 50 xu stamp of the artist and writer set. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The overall postage of 2.02 Dong may have been in excess of the required tariff for a standard 20 gram registered express mail letter to West Germany.

Another rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in November of 1978. It carries different color variations of the 5 xu and 10 xu stamp plus a block of four each of the 6 xu and 12 xu stamps of the other flower series with identical plate errors (red lines running across the bottom two stamps). There is also a block of four of the 5 xu harbor stamp. The overall postage amounted to 4.27 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in August of 1978. The letter carries half of the perforated set plus the 12 xu Harbor stamp for an overall postage of 4.21 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Another rare registered express mail letter mailed to Klewitz in August of 1978. The letter carries the other half of the perforated plus the 12 xu Hai Phong stamp. The overall postage amounted to 4.04 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in September of 1980. It also carries a number of the Year of the Child stamps plus a 30 xu National Liberation Front (Vietcong) stamp. Due to the fact that NFL (Vietcong) stamps were based on the South Vietnamese Dong NFL stamps were not allowed as postage in North Vietnam. This is the reason why the postal clerk did not cancel the stamp. There is also the 5 xu Hai Phong Harbor stamp. The overall postage of the letter (excluding the NFL stamp) amounted to 3.70 Dong.