North Vietnam, People Sports, September 2nd, 1959, Michel Nr. 105-107; A commemorative set featuring three nominals with 1 Xu, 3 xu and 12 xu was issued to please thematically collectors. The 1 xu nominal was simply an addition value that was needed to complete odd sized postal rates. The 6 xu nominal covered the postcard and intra-city rate for letters and the 12 xu value the standard national letter rate.
Here are three values in mint blocks of four:
Postcard of Ho Chi Minh welcomes a team of young of ping-pong players in 1962.
Perforation errors do occur but they are pretty rare. Here is a bottom right corner of the 3 xu stamp which was perforated deeply into the selvage so that the country name at the top of the stamp no longer appears.
Here another 3 xu stamp which is imperforated on the right selvage.
Below is another major perforation errors, this time on the 12 xu value:
Some small print errors also occur. Here is a mint copy of the 1 xu value that shows a major passer shift of the colors resulting in the light blue and dark blue color images not lining up in the two printing phases giving the image a type of shadow.
Homemade First Day Cover sent from Hanoi to Quoc Khanh on September 2nd, 1959.
Rare single franking of the 6xu value on a postcard to Czechoslovakia sent in July of 1960.
Local letters are very rare. Here is an unusual sample of the intra-city 6 xu postal tariff using the People Sports stamp (ex Klewitz). It was mailed on October 10th, 1959 within Hanoi city limits. It also carries a red arrow pointing to the right that states “Hoa Toc” which means “express delivery”. Apparently no surcharge was required for this method of sending within Government offices. The red hand stamp below allows the delivery person to enter the date and time of the letter’s arrival. It took one day as an October 11 delivery date was written in.
This is the back of the same envelope. It shows that even five years after the end of the war Government employees still fashioned so called “adversity covers” out of waste paper in order to save raw materials and thereby money. 
Rare multiple franking of the 6xu value from June of 1960 covering the 12xu postage for letters to fellow socialists countries.
Mixed ranking featuring two of the 1xu Sport Games stamp plus one of the 10xu Costumes stamp for an overall postage of 12xu on a letter from Hai-Phong to Czechoslovakia sent in March of 1960. Boxed Czech arrival hand stamp on the reverse.
Interesting piece from an air mail letter sent to East Germany with the 12xu People Sports stamp. The letter was sent from Dien Bien in January of 1964. Cancelled with circular Dien Bien and boxed Dien Bien Vietnam hand stamp. Dien Bien is the post office in the valley of Dien Bien Phu.
Here is an interesting mixed currency franking mailed to Theo Klewitz in October 1959. It carries the complete set of the People Sports stamps. The Ho Chi Minh stamp of 60 Dong is in old currency that was now worth 6 xu, so the overall franking comes to 49 xu. This postage appears high given that the letter was neither sent registered nor Express but could be justified by heavier than normal contents. Klewitz often received stamp shipments from his contacts in Vietnam.
Mixed franking of the 4xu and 12xu Democratic Republic stamps together with the 6xu Sports and 30 xu Fruit stamp paying an overall postage of 52xu on an international air mail letter sent from Hai Phong to East Germany.
Mixed franking using the 3xu value of the Mountain Province set plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 74xu on a homemade letter to France.
Very rare registered express mail letter sent from Hai-Phong to Klewitz in February of 1970 featuring the souvenir sheet, the entire im-perforated set and stamps from the Peoples Sports set for an overall postage of 2.49D. Souvenir sheets and im-perfroated stamps on postally used cover are very rare.
Interesting mixed currency franking of two stamps in Old Dong and four stamps in New Dong (including the 1xu People Sports stamps). The 200D old stamps were devalued by 1,000:1 on March 1st, 1959, so were only worth 20xu in November of 1959. The overall franking hence amounted to 30xu which represented the standard surface letter rate since March of 1957. England was still a rare destination in the early 60’s.
Mixed currency franking featuring a 10D Tran Dang Ninh that was devalued 1,000:1 on March 1st, 1959 and hence only worth 1xu in August of 1960. The overall franking amounted to 12xu (the standard letter rate to Eastern countries as of march 1st,1960). The letter was addressed to Czechoslovakia and featured the 1xu and 6xu People Sports stamps.
Colorful mixed franking from 1960 featuring stamps from five different sets from the time. The overall postage amounted to 30xu. The letter rate to Western countries, such as England, amounted to 50xu as of March 1st, 1960. So, while this letter was under-franked this was not noted by the postal clerks.
Mixed currency franking using the 1957 20D Democratic republic stamp that had been devalued on March 1st, 1959 so was only worth 2xu on the day of mailing. Together with the stamps in new Dong the overall postage was 20xu which represented the standard letter rate to fellow Socialist country as of April 15th, 1959.
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.
Air mail letter mailed in April of 1960 from Hai Phong to Czechoslovakia using one of the 12xu People Spirts and one 12 xu Peoples Army stamps for an overall postage of 24xu. The standard letter tariff to Eastern countries amounted to 20xu until March 1st, 1960 when it was reduced to 20xu. So, it appears that this letter was of the second weight level.
Below is a First Day Cover of the Communist Party set of 1960 that was actually sent through the mail. The addition of the 6 xu People Sports stamp added the postage to 20 xu which was the standard foreign letter rate at that time (ex. Klewitz)
Very interesting late local usage of the 6 and 12 xu stamps in 1981. The 6 xu stamp pair shows a major perforation error which results that in the lower stamp the name of the country is cut off. Also the upper stamp is taller than usual (37mm vs. 30mm normally) resulting in the upper stamp showing the country name twice in stead of once. The letter also caries a pair of the 12 xu value which shows a major perforation error. Errors on postal yused letters are very rare.
12 xu stamp used as an extension value on a very rare express mail cover sent registered to Klewitz in February of 1970. The cover carries a complete set of the perforated and im-perforated Titow stamp set. Im-perforated stamps on postally used letters are very hard to find. Given the express sending and registration fee (60 xu) and the standard letter rate to West Germany (50 xu) the letter was franked with 1.56 Dong.
Very rare registered letter sent from Quang 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in November of 1981. It carries a block of four of the Year of the Child stamps plus a mis-perforated 6 xu People Sports stamp plus other NVN stamps. There is also block of 12 of the 10 xu Flower stamps that shows a double perforation strike. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 11.30 Dong (including the red dress frank for 5.70 Dong). Green Fulda custom cachet on front.
Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in December of 1981. The letter carries a wide variety of the Lotus stamp (pair in Perf. 9.5 on yellowish paper, pair in 9.5 on white paper, pair im-perforated on yellowish paper, single stamp im-perforated on white paper, pair Perf. 5-6, pairs Perf 11 on yellowish and white paper, pairs Perf. 14 and 15 on white paper and a pair Perf. 14 on yellowish paper). Post master perforations and im-perfroated stamps on postally used cover are ver rare. Late usage of the 1 xu Peoples Sports set. The overall postage (including the free frank for 4.5 Dong) amounted to 7.87 Dong.
Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in October of 1980. The letter carries pairs of the Women Union set plus some one of the People Sports stamp for an overall postage of 7.93 Dong. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.
Registration Nr. 100260
Comments are closed.