Military Free Frank 1959

North Vietnam, Military Free Frank, July 15th, 1959; A single stamp with no nominal and in perforation 11 was printed by the Tien Bo Printing House. This stamp was printed for soldiers on active duty. Here is the official Xunhasaba bulletin that was produced upon issuance of the stamp.

Here is the mint stamp.

Mint block of four in lighter colors and printed on flat, slightly shiny paper.

Here is a pair in darker colors and printed on rougher paper.

Beautiful postally used stamp.

Very rare local letter sent from a member of the military (note the Hom Thu Nr. on the top left of the envelope) in April of 1964 from Ha-Dong to Hanoi. The contents of the letter is preserved and it is a love letter from a boyfriend to a girlfriend. Most local letters were destroyed in the multi-decadal war, the tropical climate or recycling due to raw material shortages so are very hard to find.

Another rare local letter sent in December of 1959 from a member of the military in Nam-Dinh to Ha Nam. Ha-Nam arrival cancel on the reverse. This is a curious specimen as the sender basically used the back of the letter as a postcard. It is not known if there was additional contents of the letter or if just the envelope was used to communicate.

Local Letter sent by a member of the military (Note the Hom Thu number in the sender line at the top right) from Do-Luong to Hanoi on October 17th, 1959. Until the introduction of free franks, military letters had to be stamped with the red military unit stamp (here Tram40/Office 40) in order to document that the letter was indeed free of charge for the sender. This requirement fell away with the issuance of the first Free Frank on May 1st, 1958 but old habits die hard and so the red hand stamp that states “Thu Binh Si” (=Gebuehrenfrei) was applied incorrectly. A Free Frank was required and was indeed attached. Nghe-An traits and Hanoi arrival cancel on the reverse.

Very rare local letter sent by a member of the military (note the Hom Thu number in the sender line) from Tung-Thien in February of 1961 to Hanoi. Son Tay transit and Hanoi arrival cancels on the reverse.

Very rare local letter sent by a member of the military (note the Hom Thu number in the sender line) from Son-Tay to Hanoi in March of 1960. Red propaganda cachet that directs the population to actively support the agricultural plan: “Rapidly forward above the plan, alround, secure to the first row”.