1.Anniversary of the Revolt against Ngô Đình Diệm

South Vietnam, 1.Anniversary of the Revolt against Ngô Đình Diệm, November 1st, 1964, Michel Nr. SVN 321-323; Ngô Đình Diệm increasing authoritarianism and crimes against the population made him less and less desirable a leader propped up by the U.S. Government. The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States therefore engineered a military coup which saw Ngô Đình Diệm and his brother murdered. This set is celebrating the first anniversary of this coup.

Here is the mint set.

and here the postally used set.

These stamps were not officially released imperforate, however, a small number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Here is the imperforate set in pairs.

Enpreuves de Luxe; “Imprimerie des Timbres-Poste, Paris” inscribed at bottom right.

Color Trials; prior to authorizing the final printing run for stamps the Vietnamese Postal Authority requested a few sheets of color sheets on one particular value of a set in order to decide which final color combination would be best suited for each stamp within the set. The color sheets had the size of a standard sheet but contained alternating color options on the designated nominal value. While these sheets were only intended for internal postal use some of them came to market. Virtually all of these complete sheets were cut apart. So one mostly finds single color proofs or small strips of them. While they are actually very rare one can still obtain them for under $10 a piece (with some exceptions) as not many collectors appear to have an interest in them so far. Here are various color trials for the 0.50D and 3D values.

First Day Cover

Mixed franking of the 50c 1.Anniversary of the Revolt against Ngô Đình Diệm stamp together with stamps from the Beach of Hà Tiên, Human Rights and Buildings and Landscapes sets paying an overall postage of 7D on a registered domestic letter sent from Saigon to Long-Xuyen in March of 1965.

Mixed franking of the 50c 1.Anniversary of the Revolt against Ngô Đình Diệm stamp together with stamps from the Buddhism, Reunification, Buildings and Landscapes, ITU and Highway Saigon-Bien HOa sets paying an overall postage of 10.50D on a printed matter mailing sent from Saigon to the United States in June of 1965.

Mixed franking of the 3D Revolt of Ngo Dinh and 10D Meteorology stamps paying an overall postage of 13D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to the United States in 1965.

Mixed franking of the 50c (2) and 1D Buildings and Landscapes stamps together with stamps from the Air Mail, Railway Line, Meteorology, Moral Arming of Youth, UNESCO and Revolt against Ngô Đình Diệm sets paying an overall postage of 28D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to the United States in January of 1965.

Mixed franking of the 50c 1.Anniversary of the Revolt against Ngô Đình Diệm stamps (3) together with the 1.50DWorld Day of Meteorology stamp paying an overall postage of 3D on a domestic letter sent within Saigon in November of 1964.

Very rare single franking of the 80c value on a domestic printed matter mailing by the Ministry for Culture and Education sent within Saigon in March of 1965. The printed letter invites artists of certain age groups to submit art works for the bi-annual art exhibition in Paris from September 28th through November 3rd, 1965.

Very rare single franking of the 80c value on a domestic printed matter mailing sent within Saigon in August of 1965.

Rare multiple franking of the 0.80D value (3) paying an overall postage of 2.40D on a printed matter mailing sent from Hue in April of 1968 to England.

Mixed franking of the 0.80D Revolt of Ngo Diem stamp together with stamps from the Human Rights and Ha Tien Beach stamps paying the civilian domestic letter rate of 4D. The letter was sent by the National Police in Quang Ngai (Cant Sat Quoc Gia), who were also called the “White Mice” by American troops, to their office in Saigon. The National Police had only military free-frank privileges if they were engaged in the field. If they sent mail from their main headquarters they had to pay standard civilian rates. Quang Ngai transit cancel on the reverse. The letter still contains the request for a back-ground check.

Mixed franking of the 0.70D, 1D and 3D Human Rights stamps together with stamps from the Madonna, Revolt against Ngo Dinh Diem, Danhim Power Station, Buildings and Landscapes and Beach of Ha Tien sets paying an overall postage of 14.10D on an international air mail letter sent fromSaigon to the United States in April of 1965.

Single franking of the 3D value on a domestic letter sent from Saigon to Hue.

Rare multiple frankin g of the 3D value (4) paying an overall postage of 12D on a registered domestic letter sent from Vinh Long to Binh Tuong in January of 1965. Mytho transit cancel on the reverse.