Unified Vietnam, 25. Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, July 20th, 1978, Michel Nr. 984-985; Two stamps, one with a 6 xu nominal nd the other with 12 xu, were issued in perforation 11.0.

Here are mint blocks of four of the set:

These stamps were not officially released imperforate however a small number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Here is an imperforate pair of the 12 xu stamp plus a pair of the same stamp that shows a significant passer-shift downwards of the blue color:

Another rare, im-perforated trial proof this time with a missing blue printing run:

Very rare im-perforated presentation sheetlets of the set on glossy newsprint  paper. Note the printers guiding marks surrounding the stamps:

Here is a perforation error on the 6xu stamp that shows a double perforation strike in-between the two stamps.

Single franking of the 6 xu stamp sent from Cambodian border zone to HCM City in November of 1978. The cover was mailed from the forward Headquarters Loc Ninh, Song Be Province located on the border. It was then carried in a bulk shipment to HCM City. HT 7A (main HQ in HCM City) served troops fighting on the Cambodian border at the start of the conflict.

Single franking of the 6 xu stamp paying the intra-city tariff that offered a 50% discount to the standard letter rate on a domestic lettre mailed within Hanoi in November of 1979.

Rare local letter featuring multiple franking of the 6xu value paying the 12xi domestic letter rate on a letter sent to Mytho in October of 1981. Red official seal in the top left corner.

Multiple franking of the 6 xu stamps (4) paying an overall postage of 24 xu hence paying the second weight level on a domestic letter (full contents preserved) sent from Dalat to HCM City in February of 1983. Quan 1o transit and HCM City arrival cancel on the reverse.

Mixed franking of two of the Day Telephony stamps together with the 6 xu Cubn Revolution stamp paying the standard letter rate of 30 xu.

Rare local letter (with full original contents) using a single 12 xu stamp. The letter emanated from a re-education camp in Nam Dinh in 1978 and was sent to Ho Chi Minh City. Initially letters from re-eduaction camps were free of charge but that changed in 1977 after which the standard local letter of 12 xu applied.

Rare local letter featuring a single franking of the 12xu stamp on a re-education camp (K5) letter sent to Ha Bac in 1979.

Mixed franking of the Nguyen Trai, Lenin, Socialist Republic Vietnam, Cuban Revolution plus stamps from the Birds and Year of the Child paying an overall postage of 4.30D on a registered international air mail letter sent from HCM City to Hong Kong in December of 1980.

Very rare registered letter that features  pair of the perforated 6 xu stamps plus the two im-perforated error stamps above mailed to Klewitz in January of 1983. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare as most philatelist wouldn’t want error stamps to be exposed to loss or damage during postal transit. The overall postage amounted to 5.48 Dong (including the 1 Dong red free frank).

Another very rare registered local letter sent in October of 1980 from Di An To Ho Chi Minh City. It carries an im-perforated 12 xu stamp of the Cuba set. Im-perfroated stamps on postally used cover (especially used locally) are very rare. HCM City arrival cancel on the reverse.

Rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in August of 1978. It carries a pair of the set plus a range of other contemporary NVN stamps for an overall postage of 4.40 Dong. Interesting Basel-Frankfurt rail transit cancel and Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare registered express mail letter sent to Klewitz in October of 1978.It carries the set plus the Cuba set for an overall postage of 4.82 Dong. The zero money free-frank was required to produce the R-label as it was produced by the same franking machine. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare registered express mail letter mailed from Hai Phong to Klewitz in June of 1979. It carries the Cuba set in pairs plus a range of other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 5.04 Dong. Bad Nauheim transit and Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. 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 the Cuba 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.

Registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz in August of 1982. The letter carries the Women Congress set plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 22.82 Dong (including the red free frank for 15.5 Dong). Cuban Independence stamp in front. Transit cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet one front.

Rare registered letter sent from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz. The letter features the perforated and im-perforated stamp  plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 12.64 (including the red free frank for 5 Dong). Im-perforated trial proofs are very rare on postally used cover. Cuban Revolution sets in font and back. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in February of 1989 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated Cuban Revolution set plus stamps from the USSR Peace Treaty, Dong Da, Parrots (imperforate), Hydro Stations (imperforate), Cambodian National Day, United Nations and older Cuban themed sets. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The Cuban themed stamps from 1978 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 0.30 oD = 0.03 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (3,761 nD) plus the red free frank for 8,961.03 nD.

Registration Nr. 102695

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