Struggle for Reunification

North Vietnam, Struggle for Reunification, July 20th, 1961, Michel Nr. 168-169; North Vietnam kept pushing for reunification of the country. A vote for that had been agreed on at the Geneva Convention in 1954 but the South Vietnamese Government did not want to face the country’s voters. Since Ho Chi Minh was popular with nationalists in the North and South, Ho was expected to win any national contest. This of course the South did not want to happen so they kept stalling any national elections. A 12 xu value (standard domestic letter rate) and a 2 Dong value were issued. The higher value must have been intended for large commercial envelopes or packages.

Here is the official Xunhasaba bulletin published on occasion of the stamps release. Note the small 60,000 printing volume of the 2 Dong value.

Here is a mint set:

Mint blocks of four:

Postally used 12xu stamp. Postally used stamps are at least ten times rarer than cancelled to order stamps.

Rare single franking of the 12 xu value sent in July of 1961 to the District Management Office of the “Freie Deutsche Jugend FDJ” or Free German Youth Organization in Leipzig, East Germany.

Postally used letters with the 2 Dong stamps are very rare. Here is one (ex Klewitz) that was mailed July 21st, 1961, one day after the first day of issue. A special oval cachet that was released for the reunification issue was also struck on the envelope. The letter carries also a set of the city liaison issue for an overall postage of 2.27 Dong. Despite the international registration fee of 60 xu the letter was clearly over-franked at that rate. The standard postage to West Germany was 50 xu but the cunning sender wrote “CHDC Duc” at the bottom of the address which stood for “East Germany”. The standard postage to East Germany was only 12 xu so the postal clerk would have been happy with an overall rate of 72 xu for a standard 20 gram letter.

Exceedingly rare registered air-mail package wrapper sent by Xunhasaba to a stamp dealer in Belgium in the early 1960’s. Most package wrappers were simply thrown out after the package was opened so very few of them survive today. The wrapper is franked with two of the 20xu Flower stamps, the high nominal 2D Reunification stamp, the 50xu Animal stamp and the 8xu 950 Years Hanoi stamp for an overall postage of 2.98D. Unusual Brussels Customs arrival R-Label. Blue Vietnamese Customs declaration label, Blue-White Belgian Customs label. Black hand stamp indicating that the package was flown from Hanoi to East Berlin for further transit.

Mixed ranking using the rare 2D Reunification stamp together with the 30 xu Agricultural Products paying an overall postage of 2.30D on an international air mail letter sent to England in June of 1964. Note that the letter originated from the Captain of the M/S Thalis that was stationed in the port of Campha at that time.

Rare express mail cover with a late usage (1974) of the complete set (ex Klewitz). Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Overall franking 2.42 Dong as a result of the registered/express mail charges.

Another late usage of a block of four of the very rare 2 Dong value. Mailed express to Klewitz in 1974 for an overall postage of 8.48 Dong. Most likely over-franked. Bebra arrival cancel on the reverse.

Rare registered express mail letter mailed to Klewitz in August of 1974 featuring the set. The overall postage amounted to 2.48 Dong which may have been too high given that a standard 20 gram registered express mail letter to West Germany only cost 1.60 Dong. However, Klewitz often got stamp shipments from his contact in Vietnam, so the letter may have simply exceeded the standard 20 grams. Red Fulda arrival hand stamp in front and Fulda arrival date canceler on the reverse.

Registered letter sent to Klewitz in June of 1982 sent from Nguyen Trai. It carries the National Union Congress set plus one of the Reunification stamp for an overall postage of 11.04 (including the 8 Dong from the red free frank on the back). Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in October of 1980. The letter carries pairs of the Women Union set plus some other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 7.93 Dong. Late usage of the Reunification stamp. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.