Unified Vietnam, 95. Birthday of Ho Chi Minh, May 19th, 1985, Michel Nr. 1588-1592, Block 39; Four stamps in the nominals of 1D, 2D, 4D, 5D and a souvenir-sheet with a 10D nominal were issued in perforation 12.74:12.5 and imperforate were issued. It is not clear why Michel reports that this issue was released on July 6th, 1985 as this is not Ho Chi Minh’s birth date. Stamps and souvenir-sheets sold at postal counters were without gum while the stamps and souvenir-sheets provided to dealers and collectors by the official stamp agency were with gum.

Here is the mint perforated set

Klewitz reports that the souvenir-sheet that was delivered by the stamp agency carried what he calls a “secret sign”. He did not explain what he meant with that but one can only surmise that the sign was intended to distinguish different production runs of the souvenir-sheet. This is the “secret sign” identified by Klewitz in the shape of a small turquoise dot. . It is located on the upper right of the sheet.

Here is the mint imperforate set. Note the two color variations of the souvenir-sheet.

First Day Covers (note the date of issuance was may May 19th, 1985)

Air mail letter sent on September 11th, 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the imperforate HCM Birthday set, plus the imperforate Lenin and the 50D Friendship Contract sets for an overall postage of 71.50D. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare.

Registered air mail letter sent on September 12th, 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated HCM Birthday set plus stamps from the Friendship Contract, Hai Phong Liberation and World Food Day sets for an overall postage of 244D (including the red free frank for 110D). Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent on September12th, 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated HCM Birthday souvenir-sheet plus stamps from the Friendship Contract, Reforestation, Communist Party, Union Congress and Historical Automobile sets for an overall postage of 446.16D (including the red free frank for 107D). Souvenir-Sheets on postally used cover are very rare. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent on September 28th, 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the imperforate souvenir-sheets of the HCM Birthday and Union Conference sets plus stamps from the Youth Festival, World Food Year, Reforestation and Bird sets. The Birds stamps are imperforate and the top left Union Conference stamp shows the plate error of “crack through building”. Souvenir-sheets and imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The Vietnamese Government conducted a devaluation of the Dong on September 14th, 1985. This meant that all stamps issued prior to this date (i.e. all stamps on this envelope) were only worth one tenth at the time of mailing. The overall postage hence amounted to 41.37 oD = 4.14 nD. plus the red free frank for 35 nD or 39.14 nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in October 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the HCM Birthday and the Communist Party souvenir-sheets plus stamps from the HCM Birthday, Orchids, Union Conference, Friendship Contract and Union Congress sets. There are also two of the military free franks from 1981 that were technically not allowed for international postage but were apparently tolerated by the postal clerk. The Vietnamese Government conducted a devaluation of the Dong on September 14th, 1985. This meant that all stamps issued prior to this date (i.e. all the stamps on this cover) were only worth one tenth at the time of mailing. The overall postage hence amounted to 345.12 oD = 34.51 nD. plus the red free frank for 5 nD or 39.51 nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in November of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries three imperforate values of the HCM Birthday set plus stamps from the NLF, Hanoi Liberation and Friendship Contract sets for an overall postage of 109.72 oD. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The Vietnamese Government conducted a devaluation of the Dong on September 14th, 1985. This meant that all stamps issued prior to this date (i.e. all stamps on this cover) were only worth one tenth at the time of mailing. The overall postage hence amounted to 109.72 oD = 10.97 nD. plus the red free frank for 12 nD or 22.97 nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in July of 1986 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the HCM Birthday souvenir-sheets from 1970 and 1985 plus stamps from the National Assembly, Reconstruction, United Nations, Day the Child, Space Exploration and Qing Army stamps. There also are two military free franks from 1981 which were technically not allowed for international postage but which the postal clerk apparently nevertheless accepted. Souvenir-sheets on postally used cover are very rare. 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 (this was true for all stamps other than the ones from the United Nations, Reconstruction and National Assembly stamps) . The overall postage hence amounted to 11.44 oD = 1.14 nD. plus the stamps already in new currency of 26 nD for 27.14  nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in November of 1985 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter caries half of the perforated Stamp Exhibition set plus stamps from the HCM Birthday (Imperforate), Hanoi Liberation, Fish, Peace Meeting, Provisional Overprint and Communist Party sets.   All stamps on this cover were denominated still in old 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 65.12oD =6.51 nD. plus the red free frank  for 16.9 nD or 23.41nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in November of 1985 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter caries half of the perforated Stamp Exhibition set plus stamps from the HCM Birthday (Imperforate), Friendship Treaty , Harmful Insects (Imperforate), Peace Meeting and Union Congress sets. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. All stamps on this cover were denominated still in old 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 208 oD =20.8 nD. plus the red free frank  for 2.5 nD or 23.3 nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in November of 1985 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated souvenir-sheets of the Argentina Stamp Exhibition (9.6×7.9 cm) and HCM Birthday, plus stamps from the HCM Birthday (Imperforate), Orchids, Harmful Insects, Peace Meeting and Hanoi Liberation sets. Souvenir-Sheets and imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. All stamps on the cover are still denominated in old 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 288.54 oD =28.85 nD. plus the red free frank for 17.6 nD plus for a total of 46.45 nD. Fragment of the green Fuda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in June of 1987 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries stamps that were still denominated in old Dong (Union Congress, Defense and Production, HCM Birthday (imperforate) ) and new Dong (Airplanes, Bonsai, National Assembly, Rare Plants). Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. 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  16.3 oD =1.63 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (63 nD) plus the red free frank for 300 nD for 364.63 nD. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in June of 1987 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries stamps that were still denominated in old Dong (Union Congress, Defense and Production, HCM Birthday) and new Dong (Airplanes, Bonsai, National Assembly). There is also a 30D stamp from the National Liberation Front denominated in South Vietnamese Dong. These stamps became valid after reunification but were devalued by 500:1. There are also different color variations of the Union Congress stamps. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. 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  19 oD =1.90 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (43 nD) plus the red free frank for 320 nD plus the NLF stamp 30 SVND: 500 = 0.06 nD for 364.96 nD. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in February of 1987 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter caries the dark colored version of the  Bronze Vessel souvenir-sheet plus stamps from the Reconstruction, HCM Birthday and Indochina War sets. The HCM Birthday stamps are imperforate and still denominated in old Dong.  Souvenir-Sheets and imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. The Hanoi Liberation, Friendship stamps and the World Communication Year souvenir-sheet were still denominated in old 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  7.5 oD =0.75 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (56 nD) plus the red free frank for 177 nD for 233.75 nD. Green Fulda custom cachet on the reverse.

Registered air mail letter sent in September of 1987 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter the entire perforated Butterflies set plus stamps from the Prehistoric Animals, Postal Union, Year of Peace, HCM Birthday (imperforate souvenir-sheet) and Manned Space Flight (souvenir-sheet) sets.  Imperforate stamps or souvenir-sheets on postally used cover are very rare. The Prehistoric Animals and HCM Birthday 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  15 oD =1.50 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (62 nD) plus the red free frank for 1043 nD for 1,106.5 nD.

Registered air mail letter sent in June of 1988 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the Tourism stamp set and souvenir-sheet plus stamps/souvebir-sheet from the Wicker Basket, Ha Long Bay (imperforate), Party Decisions, HCM Birthday (souvenir-sheet) and World Communication Year sets.   Imperforate stamps and souvenir-sheets on postally used cover are very rare. The World Communication Year HCM Birthday and Ha Long Bay 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 12 oD =1.2 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong ( 246 nD) plus the red free frank for 2,607 nD for 2,854.2 nD. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registration Nr. 103910

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