South Vietnam, Fighters of the Republic, October 26th, 1963, Michel Nr. SVN 292-295; Four stamps in nominals of 50c, 1D, 4D and 5D were issued in perforation 13. The stamps were valid postage until May 1st, 1964 when they became invalid.
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; “Atelier de Fabrication 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 value.
Very rare complete sheet of the 0.50D color trials. Most of them have been divided up over time.
Very rare multiple franking of the 50c value (2) paying an overall postage of 1D on a printed matter mailing of a business card sent within Saigon in February of 1964.
Rare single franking of the 1D value on a printed matter mailing sent from Saigon to the United States in March of 1964.
Mixed franking of the 1D (3) and 4D Fighters of the Republic stamps together with the 8D Danhim Power Station stamp paying an overall postage of 15D on an international air mail letter sent from Saigon to the United States in September of 1964.
Registration Nr. 200410
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