Unified Vietnam, Friendship between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, August 30th, 1984, Michel Nr. 1477-1478; Two stamps with 50xu and 10D nominals were issued in perforation 10.75.

Here is a pair of the mint 50xu stamp

and here a mint pair of the 10D stamp

These stamps were not officially released imperforate however a good number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Here are imperforate pairs of both values.

There are also a good number of phase prints of this issue on the market suggesting that security at the printing works was not very tight.

Yellow printing phase of the 50xu value

Blue printing phase

Yellow and blue printing phase

Red and blue printing phase

Completed print

Vertical imperforate pair of the 50xu value with the yellow printing phase shifted to the left leaving the finished stamp looking mostly blue.

Yellow print phase of the 10D value (identical to that of the 50xu value)

Yellow and blue print phase of the 10D value

Yellow and red print phase of the 10D value

Blue and red print phase of the 10D value

Completed print (that shows the plate error of “blocked E in VIETNAM”)

Large imperforate block of eight phase prints of the 50xu/10D value of the yellow color print phase.

Large imperforate block of eight phase prints of the 50xuvalue of the yellow and blue color print phase (weak blue print).

Large imperforate block of six phase prints of the 50xu value of the blue and red color print phase.

Mint imperforate block of twelve 50xu stamps on which the middle left stamp shows the plate error of “symbol on Vietnamese flag”

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Here is a mint block of four of the 50xu value that was printed in a dark-green color. The top right stamp shows the plate error of “red vertical line at tail of dove”.

Detailed scan of the affected area

Mint block of four of the 50xu value in light-green color on which the bottom left stamp shows a rather “weak print of the dove’s eye and beak”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of eight 50xu stamps that shows a passer-shift of the red color towards the top. The top left stamp shows the plate error of “symbol on Vietnamese flag”, the second stamp from the top right the plate error of “dove with two eyes” and the bottom right stamp the plate error “weak print of the dove’s eye and beak”.

Detailed scans of the affected areas

Mint block of four of the 50xu value on which the bottom right stamp shows the plate error of “missing green grid”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of eight 50xu values which shows a double printing of the blue and green color run. The third stamp fro the top eft also shows the plate error of “vertical line at tail of dove”.

Detailed scans of the affected areas.

Mint double print of the blue color run and a passer-shift of the red color towards the top.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of four 50xu values the shows a double print of the blue color. The bottom left stamp shows signs of a dirty printing plate.

Detailed scan of the affected area

Mint block of four of the 50xu stamp on which the top left stamp shows the plate error of “blue dot on 5 of 50”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of four of the 50xu value on which the top left stamp shows printing flaw.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of twelve 50xu stamps in very light colors  on which the top left stamp shows the plate error of “red dot above 50” and the 7th stamp the plate error of “symbol in Vietnamese flag”.

Detailed scan of the affected area

Mint pair of the 50xu value printed in light-green on which the right stamp shows the plate error of “flower on tail of dove”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of four of the 50xu value that shows a partial failure of the blue printing run.

Detailed of the affected areas

Mint pair of the 50xu stamp on which the left stamp shows a paper fold.

Detail scan of the affected area

Mint block of four of the 10D value that was printed on a dirty plate. The top right stamp shows the plate error of “blue dot under V of VIETNAM”. The bottom left stamp the plate error of “red dot under V of VIETNAM”. The bottom right stamp shows the plate errors of “blue dot under 10 and blisters on 0 of 10”.

Detailed scans of there affected areas

Mint block of four of the 10D value. The two right stamps show a very heavy print of the red color. The bottom left stamp shows the plate error of “crane on dam”.

Detailed scan of the affected areas.

Mint block of eight 10D stamps that show various plate errors: top right stamp; blue dot in white circle of Lation flag. bottom left stamp; blue dot under A of VIETNAM and “small extension on 0 of  50”.

Detailed scans of the affected areas

Mint strip of three of the 10D value on which the left stamp show the plate errors of “blue dot under A of VIETNAM and “0 of 10 with small extension” and the middle stamp “blocked out E in VIETNAM”.

Detailed scans of the affected areas

Mint pair on which the left stamp shows the plate error of “10 and d connected”.

Detailed scan of the affected area

Mint block of eight which was printed on a dirty printing plate. The top right stamp shows the plate error of “blue dot under V of VIETNAM”, the middle left stamp shows the plate error of “red dot under V of VIETNAM”, the second stamp from the top right the plate error of “blue dot under 10”

Detailed scan of the affected area

Mint pair of the 10D value which was mis-perforated and on which the left stamp shows the plate error of “blue dot next to chimney”.

Detailed scan of the affected area

Mint pair of the 10D value on which the left stamp shows the plate errors of “blue dot under 10 and apostrophe on d”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint block of six of the 10D value that shows the plate errors of “blocked out E” on the two middle stamps and “red dots on tail of dove” on the top right stamp.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint pair of two 10D values on which the top stamp shows the plate error of “blue line in Vietnamese flag” and the bottom stamp “red dot on belly of dove”.

Detailed scan of the affected area.

Mint pair of the 10D value on which the left stamp shows the plate errors of “smoke coming out of chimney and blocked e in VIETNAM” and the right stamp “blue dot to the right ion chimney”.

Detailed scans of the affected areas

Single franking of the 10D stamp on a local letter sent to HCM City. Binh Thanh transit cancel on the reverse.

Single franking of the 10D value on an international air mail letter sent from Hanoi to East Germany in December of 1984.

Multiple franking of the 10D value (3) paying an overall postage of 30D oil an international air mail letter sent from Dong Nai to Switzerland in March of 1985.

International air mail letter sent from Bien Hoa to the United States featuring a mixed franking of four of the 50D Cambodian Friendship stamps plus stamps from the Border Troops and the 10D Vietnamese Friendship stamp for an overall postage of 300D.

Registered air mail letter sent in January of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the Friendship set in pairs. Two of the 10D values carry the plate error of “blue dot under A of VIETNAM and 0 of 50 with extension”. The letter also carries amps from the Ha Long and Union Conference sets for an overall postage of to 49D. Green Fulds custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in February of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries stamps from the Friendship, World Communication, Union Conference, Asia Games, Union World Congress stamps for an overall postage of 50.9D (including the red free frank for 12D. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in February of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated souvenir-sheet plus stamps from the Friendship, Women Congress and World Communication sets for an overall postage of 52.12D. Souvenir-Sheets on postally used cover are very rare. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet.

Registered air mail letter sent in February of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the imperforate souvenir-sheet plus stamps from the Friendship, Provisional Overprint and World Communication sets for an overall postage of 51D (including the red free frank for 16D. One of the 10D Friendship stamps shows the plate error of “blue dot under A of VIETNAM and 0 of 10 with extension”. Souvenir-Sheets and plate errors on postally used cover are very rare. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet.

Registered Air Mail letter sent in March of 1985 from Tan Binh to Klewitz. The letter carries a block of four of the 10D Friendship value plus blocks of four of the provisional overprints.  Two overprint stamps represent double printings of the overprint. Errors stamps on postally used cover are very rare. On the reverse there are stamps from The Ocean Fish and Sail Ship sets. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 50.9D.

Registered air mail letter sent in March of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City which carries two blocks of four of the 50xu and 10D Friendship set. The 50xu stamps show a double printing of the blue color while two of the 10D stamps show plate errors (apostrophe over 1; blue dot in Cambodian flag). Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. On the reverse there are also stamps from the provisional overprint and Union Congress sets for an overall postage of 51D. Green Fold custom cachet on the reverse.

Registered air mail letter sent as a mixed currency franking in March of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries four of the 10D Friendship stamps. There are also stamps fro the Hymenoptera, Union Conference , Flower and Ocean Fish as well stamps from 1958 which were still denominated in Old Dong. These stamps were devalued on March 1st, 1959 by 1,000:1. As a result the overall postage of the letter amounted to 48.92. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in March of 1985 from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz. The letter carries four pairs of the Friendship set plus some stamps from the provisional overprint and Independence sets for an overall postage of 50.12D. One of the 50xu Friendship sets shows the plate error of “symbol on the Vietnamese flag”. Different vertical overprint placement on the 50xu Rose stamps.  The Independence stamp shows two sizes. Errors stamps on postally used cover are very rare. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent as mixed currency franking in April of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the Illiteracy Campaign set from 1958 which was devalued by 1,000:1 on March 1st, 1959 so worth only 1.2D. Together with the stamps from the Friendship, Harmful Insect and Union Conference sets the overall postage of the letter amounted to 53.89D (including the red free frank for 1.77D). Green Fulda custom cachet on the reverse.

Registered air mail letter sent in April of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries multiple Friendship sets plus stamps from the Union Congress and Summit sets for an overall postage of 70.50D. The first block of four of the 50xu values shows two plate errors (faulty xu and VIETNAM) and the second block of four is a double print of the blue color plus a passer-shift of the red color towards the top. Partial green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in April of 1984 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries a number of the 50xu and 10D Friendship stamps some of which carry the plate errors described above plus the Correggio souvenir-sheet and some of the provisional overprints for an overall postage of 70.5D (including the red free frank for 35D). Errors stamps and souvenir-sheets on postally used cover are very rare. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet.

Registered air mail letter sent in April of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries four 10D values from the Friendship set plus stamps from the Orchids, Peoples Army and Union Congress sets for an overall postage of 71D (including the red free frank for 18D). The Union Congress stamps she two different color shades. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet on front. Special Cachet “Liberation of Hanoi”on the reverse.

Registered air mail letter sent in May of 1985 from Vuon Xai (small post office) to Klewitz. The letter carries a number of the Friendship, Karl Marx, Union Congress and Diewn Bien Phu sets for an overall postage of 72D. The Friendship stamps show a number of the plate errors demonstrated above. The Karl Marx stamp is represented in two paper varieties. Garment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in August of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries nine of the 10D Friendship stamps plus stamps from the Prehistoric Animal set for an overall postage of 143D (including the red free frank for 47D). Some of the Friendship stamp shows the plate errors that are illustrated above. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent on September 12th, 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries a iced currency franking of stamps denominated in Old and New Dong. The Reunification stamps were devalued by 1,000:1 on March 1st, 1959 and hence were worth only 30xu at the time of mailing. The other stamps from the Ha Long, Friendship and Radio Station stamps were already in new Dong (193.12D). So the overall postage of the letter amounted to 207.12D (including the red free frank for 13.7D). 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 a number of Friendship stamps (some of which show plate errors and color variations) plus stamps from the Liberation of Hanoi and Communist Party stamps for an overall postage of 69 Old Dong (worth 6.90D in New Dong) plus a red free frank for 17.4 New Dong for an overall postage of 24.3 New Dong. The Old Dong was devalued by 10:1 on September 14th, 1985. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent as a mixed currency franking in November of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries a large number of Friendship stamps, some of which carry the plate errors featured above. The letter also carries stamps from the Ha Long, Harmful Insects, Provisional Overprints, Prehistoric Animal and Friendship Contract set for an overall postage of 312 Old Dong (worth only 31.2D due to the currency devaluation on September 14th, 1985) plus the red free frank for 0.25 New Dong. The Prehistoric Animal stamps are imperforate Plate errors and imoperforate on postally used cover are very rare. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent as mixed currency franking in December of 1989 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter features imperforate pairs of the 50xu value of the Friendship set (one of which is lacking the yellow print phase) plus stamps from the ice dancing set from 1989 and other contemporary NVN stamps for an overall postage of 9,760.2D (Including the red free frank for 8,200D). Imperforate stamps (especially phase prints) on postally used cover are very rare. The Friendship stamps were issue prior to the devaluation of the Vietnamese Dong on September 14th, 1985 (10:1) so they were only worth 20xu at the time of mailing.

Air mail letter sent as a mixed currency franking in January of 1989 from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz. The letter features a pair of imperforate 50xu Friendship stamps plus a phase print that is missing the yellow color and on top of that shows the plate error “symbolic Vietnamese flag”. There is also an imperforate  3,000D Hydro Power Station stamp. Imperforate and errors stamps on postally used cover are very rare (especially phase prints). The Friendship stamps were issue prior to the devaluation of the Vietnamese Dong on September 14th, 1985 (10:1) so they were only worth 20xu at the time of mailing. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 4,140.20D.

Registered air mail letter sent in July of 1989 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated French Revolution I set plus stamps from the Ice Dancing, French Revolution II, USSR Friendship Agreement, Hydro Stations and Laos-CambodianFriendship Treaty sets. The Cambodian-Laos Friendship, which show a passer-shift of the red color upwards,  stamps from 1984  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 1.00 oD = 0.10 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (2,900 nD) plus the red free frank for 6,510 nD for 9,410.1 nD.

Registered air mail letter sent in December of 1989 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries perforated stamps from the Inoculation set plus stamps from the Vietnamese-Laos Friendship (imperforate), Flowers, French Revolution I and Hydro Station sets. The Friendship 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 1 oD = 0.10 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (4,100 nD)  and the red free frank for 4,860 nD for 8,960.1 nD. Green Fulda custom cachet on the front.

Registration Nr. 103700

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