190. Anniversary of the Victory of the Qing-Army

Unified Vietnam, 190. Anniversary of the Victory of the Qing-Army, February 1st, 1979, Michel Nr. 1016-1017; Two stamps, both with 12 xu nominals, were issued in perforation 11 and 12.50.

There are two perforation varieties. The standard perforation is 11.0:

Mint blocks of four (Perf. 11.0)

The rarer perforation of 12.5 is shown here on this mint set (note the chamois paper version of the red 12 xu value):

Here is a perforation error of the green 12 xu stamp. The strip of five is imperforate on the left margin and the other vertical perforation is mis-placed to run through the stamp image.

There are also two paper varieties of the red 12 xu stamp. One is white (normal) and the other is printed on chamois paper. According to Klewitz the variety was issued in Ho Chi Minh City. Here is a pair of the red 12 xu stamp (Perf. 11.0) on chamois paper. The right stamp also shows a plate error that shows a curved black line at the ear of Quang Turn.

Here is a detailed scan of the plate error:

There are also perforation errors on the red 12 xu stamp. Here is a vertical pair that shows a second perforation comb strike that ent through the stamp to the right:

Another perforation error. This time there were two perforation comb strikes on the horizontal plane as can be seen in-between this pair:

Here is a plate flaw on the top stamp that was most likely caused by a small object falling on the printing plate:

Here is a detailed scan of the plate flaw:

The following are partial scans of a complete sheet of 50 stamps that shows a number of perforation errors and plate errors. The stamps in position B1 and E2 show plate errors. The fifth row shows a damaged perforation comb. Two of the “teeth” were missing causing small areas of im-perfroation vertically in-between al stamps.Detailed scan of plate error in Field B1. Here the word “Quang” actually looks like “Qbang”.

Detailed scan of the plate error on Field E2. Above the “Q” in “Quang” is a white area that looks like a seated figure.

Here is a detailed scan of the perforation error:

Here is a partial sheet of 25 stamps (only 20 are shown) that show a number of plate errors, printing and perforation flaws. The sheet part remains im-perforated on the left margin. The third stamp in the third row shows a printing flaw in the shape of a white circle. The second stamp in the fourth row shows a printing flaw in the “G”of the word “Quang”. The third row also shows the missing perforation teeth across the row.

Here are detailed scans of the printing flaws/errors:

Rare local letter featuring the green 12 xu stamp from Binh Duong Province to HCM City in August of 1979.Manual and machine HCM City arrival cancels on the reverse.

Another local letter, this time featuring the red 12 xu stamp, sent in March of 1979 from Chau Thanh to HCM City. HCM City machine arrival cancel on the reverse.

Local letter with the red 12 xu stamp that has probably a military origin. It was routed to Hai Phong but the sender used a numerical code.

Mixed franking of the Soccer Spain stamps together with stamps from the Mammal, Asia Games , Qing Army, Lotus Flower and Bulgaria sets paying an overall postage of 14.62D on a registered international air mail letter sent from Quan 5 to Klewitz in Germany in December of 1982. All Lotus Flower stamps are perforated in the rare Post Master Perforation. Post Master Perforations on postally used letter are very rare. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare express mail letter sent from Pleiku to Klewitz in July of 1980. It carries the set in pairs. The green 12 xu stamp on the right has the “seated person” plate error. The overall postage amounted to 4.80 Dong.

Mixed franking of the 12xu, 20xu, 30xu and 60xu Children Games stamps together with a pair of the 12xu Qing Arny stamps for an overall postage of 1.46D sent from Ho Chi Minh to Hong Kong in July of 1979.

Very rare registered express mail letter sent from Da Lat to Klewitz in July of 1980. The bottom left green 12 xu stamp shows the plate error “Qbang” instead of “Quang”. It also features the Einstein stamp with the missing black printing run. Errors stamps on postally used cover are very rare as most philatelist preferred to collect such errors mint and not risk one getting lost in the mail. The overall postage amounted to 4.92 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Air mail letter from Ho Chi Minh City sent to Hong Kong in February of 1970. The overall postage amounted to 1.30 Dong.

Rare registered express mail letter sent from Hai Phong to Klewitz in October of 1980. The letter carries the set. The overall postage amounted to 4.92 Dong. Interesting hand-written R-Label. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse.

Rare Register express mail letter sent from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz in January of 1981. The right green 12 xu stamp shows the plate error “seated person”. The overall postage amounted to 4.80 Dong. Frankfurt-Bebra railway transit cancel. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse.

Another rare registered express mail letter sent from Hai Phong to Klewitz in February of 1980. It carries a vertical pair of the rare red 12 xu stamp with perforation 12.5. and a single of the green 12 xu stamps with perforation 12.5 that also shows a horizontal double perforation in-between the stamps.

Registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in October of 1982. It carries a strip of three of the 50 xu Year of Child stamps that shows a printing error of the red color. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. There are also nine of the 12 xu Qing Army stamps. The overall postage amounted to 21.21 Dong (including the red free frank of 9 Dong). Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent to Klewitz in July of 1984. The letter carries a number of the Year of the Cild stamps plus two of the Qing Army stamps for an overall postage of 9.64 Dong (including the red 2.40 Dong free frank). Unusual red HCM City cancel. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in June of 1982. The letter carries three of the 1 Dong Day of the Child stamps. They show a double perforation comb strike in-between stamps and on the selvage. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. There are also two of the Qing Army stamps. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in January of 1983. The letter carries the 50 xu World Congress stamp in various color tones and plate errors. The Einstein stamp also shows color variations. There is also a military free frank issued in 1976 on the reverse. Military free franks were not valid for international postage due to their lacking nominal value. Nevertheless, the postal clerk appears to have accepted the stamp as postage. Qing Army stamps on the reverse. The overall postage of the letter (inducing the implied 12 xu value of the free frank) amounted to 14.52 Dong. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in August of 1982. The letter carries various error stamps of the red HCM stamps. Error stamps are very rare on postally used cover. Qing Army stamps on the reverse. The overall postage amounted to 11 Dong (including the red free frank for 8 Dong). Green Fula custom cachet on front.

Very large registered letter sent from Nguyen Rai to Klewitz in June of 1982. It carries a block of six of the red 30 xu stamp with horizontal double perforation of the lilac-red color variety and a pair of the same stamps in orange-red with the right stamp showing the “glass-eye” plate error on the right stamp. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. Qing Army stamps on the reverse. The overall postage amounted to 12.84 Dong. Faint green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Very large letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in September of 1982. It features two blocks of eight of the Militia stamps. The upper block shows the Post Master Perforation 11.5 while the bottom block shows the Post Master perforation 12.5. The plate error “long white line behind the sun” and “damaged uniform bottom” is present on both blocks. The letter also carries ten of the Lotus stamps with Post Master Perforation 14-15. Mass franking of the 12 xu Qing Army stamp on the reverse. The overall postage amounted to 23.84 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in August of 1982. The letter features three of the 2 Dong Bulgaria stamps. The left most stamp shows the plate error of “missing Chinh” and the middle stamp shows the re-engraved plate resulting in a partial white inscription. The letter also shows six 12 xu Lotus stamps with the rarer Post Master Perforation (Perf 14-15). Error stamps and post master perforations on postally used cover are very rare. Qing Army stamps on the reverse.The overall postage of the letter amounted to 14.42 (including the red free frank for 5 Dong). Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in November of 1982. The letter carries both Women Union sets plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 20.74 Dong. Qing Army stamps on the reverse. Unusual red cancel. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in November of 1982. The letter carries the Environment set plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 13.92 Dong (including the red free frank for 8 Dong). Strip of five Qing Army stamps the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz in May of 1983. The letter features a strip of five of each October Revolution stamps that shows progressively darker colors from left to right. Qing Army stamps on the reverse.The overall postage amounted to 23.54 Dong (including the red free frank for 6 Dong). Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in April of 1989 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated Ice Dancing souvenir-sheet plus stamps from the Chinese New Year, Communist Party, Hydro Stations, INDIA Stamp Exhibition, Children Drawings and Qing Army sets. The King Army stamps show a severe mis-perforation. Errors stamps and souvenir-sheets on postally used cover are very rare. The Chinese New Year, Communist Party and Qing Army stamps were still denominated in old Dong while all other stamps were already denominated in new Dong. The Vietnamese Government conducted a devaluation of the Dong on September 14th, 1985. This meant that all stamps issued prior to this date were only worth one tenth at the time of mailing. The overall postage hence amounted to 20.60 oD = 2.06 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (4,200 nD) plus the red free frank for 2,370 nD for 6,572.06 nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.