North Vietnam, Handicraft Fair in Hanoi (3rd Series), August 19th, 1958, Michel Nr. 81-82; This was the second set issued in 1958 for civilian use to promote handcraft and to promote the newly awoken trade. Values of 150D and 1,000D were issued. The lower value was intended to cover the standard letter rate, while the higher value paid for international air mail letters to Europe. A set for official use was also issued in 1958 so this subject clearly was important for the country. Michel and the Vietnamese Postage Stamp Catalogue indicate that the set was issued in perforation 13.0 but the editor cannot confirm that. All of his stamps are perforated 12.75. Perforation on this set was generally very poor and on most stamps the holes did not get punched out properly. Stamps with nice perforation deserve a surcharge.
Her is the mint set.
Virtually all used stamps are cancelled to order like this set.
Postally used stamps are very hard to find. They are worth at least ten times that of CTO stamps. Note that the 150D stamp shows the plate error “white line in 5 of 150”.
Complete letters are hard to find. Here is a rare single franking of the 1,000D value to West Germany. West Germany was a rare destination at the time.
Here is a large air mail envelope with a mixed currency franking that includes one of the 1,000D stamps. The letter was sent to a rare destination “Canada”. The Old Dong was devalued by 1,000:1 on March 1st, 1959 so the two stamps in old currency were worth 1.3 New Dong or 130 Xu. A 6 Xu stamp featuring the Mechanization of Agriculture was added for an overall postage of 136 Xu. Not many large envelopes survived. Note that the 1,000D stamp shows the plate error “M in NAM broken at bottom right”.
This is a mixed franking from June, 1959 that was sent to well known philatelist Theo Klewitz. It features a single stamp for the 1,000D value in front and a mix of other early NVN stamps on the reverse for an overall postage of 1,350 Dong. This means the letter was heavier than the standard 20g.
Mixed franking sent by Xunhasaba to a client in London, England. England was still a rarer destination in the early 1960’s. The letter features two of the Ha Long stamps and the Handicraft Exhibition in Old Dong (devalued by 1,000:1 on March 1st, 1959) worth only 1.7 New Dong. Together with the stamps in new currency the overall postage amounted to 1.78D. Red propaganda cachet on front.
Mixed currency mailing from Hanoi to France using one stamp denominated in Old Dong (Handicraft stamp) in the amount of 1,000 Old Dong (worth only 1 New Dong after the 1,000:1 devaluation on March 1st, 1959). The air mail stamp in New Dong was added in the amount of 20 xu for an overall postage of 1.20 New Dong. The standard letter rate to Western countries at the time amounted to 50 xu so this letter must have been of a higher weight level.
Mixed currency mailing from the Vietnamese Red Cross to the Red Cross Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland using four stamps denominated in Old Dong (Railroad and Handicraft sets) in the amount of 3,000 Old Dong (worth only 3 New Dong after the 1,000:1 devaluation on March 1st, 1959). Stamps in New Dong were added in the amount of 1.53D for an overall postage of 4.53 New Dong. The letter carries also an imperforate 50xu stamp of the 1962 Flower set. Im-perforated stamps on postally used cover are very rare.
Mixed franking of normal and official stamps (Handicraft stamp from 1958) sent by a member of the Czechoslovakian Embassy (that had access to service stamps) with an overall postage of 950D
Colorful mixed currency franking of the 1,000D Handicraft stamp (that was devalued 1,000:1 on March 1st, 1959 and hence only worth 1D at the time of mailing) with other NVN stamps (including the 40xu Wild Animal stamp) for an overall postage of 2.36D on a rare registered letter to Czechoslovakia mailed in December of 1964.
Registered air mail letter featuring a mixed currency franking and sent in May of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries features the perforated Peace Meeting set and other contemporary NVN stamps with a total nominal of 62.7 Dong. There were four of the 150D Handicraft stamps from 1958 that had been devalued by 1,000:1 in March of 1959 so they were only worth 60xu at the time of mailing. So the overall postage (including the red free frank for 90xu) amounted to 63.6D. Partial green Fulda custom cachet on front.
Registration Nr.100115
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