5 Years Membership in the UPU (overprinted)

South Vietnam, 5 Years Membership in the UPU (overprinted), August 6th, 1956, Michel Nr.SVN 123-125; The base stamps that were issued on January 10th, 1956 carried the inscription “Buu Chin” (=Post Office). With the partition of Vietnam into a Northern and Southern part after the Geneva Convention this innocuous term caused ire with officials from the North as that name essentially conveyed that the South represented the entire postal system in Vietnam. As a result the remaining stamps were overprinted with “Cong the Bu’u dien” (=Post of the State) clarifying that these stamps were just of the Republic of Vietnam and not intended for all of Vietnam. The quantity of overprinted stamps is unknown but they are clearly more numerous than the un-overprinted ones.

Here is the mint set

Complete mint sheet of the 3D value (all margins intact).

and here the postally used set

Mixed franking of four 60c overprinted UPU stamps together with stamps from the Ngô Đình Diệm and Landscape sets for an overall postage of 3.50D on an international letter from Saigon to Singapore in September of 1956. The intra-Asia rate is much harder to document than tariffs to Europe or North America.

Rare local letter franked with the 60c and 90c overprinted UPU stamps paying the domestic letter rate of 1.50D on a letter mailed within Saigon in 1956. Red commercial cachet on reverse.

Mixed franking of the 60c and 90c overprinted UPU stamps together with stamps from the Landscapes, Geneva Convention and Erring Soul its for an overall postage of 6.50D on an international letter sent from Saigon to France in August of 1956.

Multiple franking of the 3D value (3) paying an overall postage of 9D on an international letter sent from Hue in February of 1957 to a Vietnamese individual located at the U.S. Army Post in Fort banning, Georgia. This documents the early collaboration between the U.S. military and the South Vietnamese. Saigon machine transit cancel on the reverse.

Mixed franking of the 3D value together with the 0.50D 2 Years Independence and 10D Reform of Living Standards paying an overall postage of 13.5D on an international air mail letter sent in January of 1959 from Saigon to France.

Mixed franking of two 3D overprinted UPU stamps together with stamps from the Election of Ngô Đình Diệm and Buildings set for an overall postage of 16.60D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to Switzerland in March of 1959.

Mixed franking of the 3D overprinted UPU stamp together with the 1.50 Ngô Đình Diệm stamp paying an overall postage of 4.5oD on an international air mail letters ent from Dalat to France in May of 1957.

Mixed franking of three 3D overprinted UPU stamps together with the 2D 3 Years Republic stamp paying an overall postage of 11D on a registered international letter sent from Saigon to France in February of 1959.

Rare multiple franking of the 3D overprinted UPU stamps paying an overall postage of 6D on a registered local letter sent from Phan Thiet to Ninh Hoa in February of 1957. Ninh HO arrival cancel on the reverse.

Rare multiple franking of the 3D stamp (3) paying an overall postage of 9D on a registered international air mail letter sent in April of 1957 from Hue to France.