Unified Vietnam, Intercosmo-program Joint Space Flight Soviet Union and Vietnam, July 24-31st of 1980, Michel Nr. 1104-1110. Six stamps and one souvenir sheet in the nominals of 12 xu (two values), 20 xu, 40 xu, 1 Dong, 2 Dong and 3 Dong were issued in perforation 12:12.25 and imperforate.

First Day Cover of the perforated set:

First Day Cover of the Imperforate set:

Rare single franking of the 12 xu Intercosmo stamp on a local cover sent in May of 1981 Long Huong (small post office) to HCM City.

Single franking of the 12 xu value on a domestic letter sent to HCM City.

Mixed franking of the 20 xu Intercosmos stamp together with stamps from the Year of the Child and HCM sets paying an overall postage of 1D on an international air mail letter sent from Pleiku to Klewitz innGermany in December of 1980.

Mixed franking of the Intercosmo and Socialist Republic Vietnam sets paying an overall postage of 4.14D on a registered international air mail letter sent from HCM City to Hong Kong in January of 1981.

Registered letter sent from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz in August of 1980. The letter carries the entire perforated Intercosmo set for an overall postage of 3.9´84 Dong. Green Fulda custom cachet on front. 

Very rare registered letter sent  from Hanoi to Klewitz in June of 1981. The letter carries half of the im-perforated set, some of the Cat stamps plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 5.50 Dong. Im-perforated stamps on postally used cover are very rare.

Another very rare registered letter sent  from Hanoi to Klewitz in June of 1981. The letter carries the other half of the im-perforated set, some of the Flower stamps plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 5.30 Dong. Im-perforated stamps on postally used cover are very rare.

The souvenir sheet was produced in two distinct printings. The first one shows a darker green color while the second printing shows a lighter dark green color.

1st Printing

2nd Printing

Souvenir Sheet 1st Printing with First Day Cancel

Rare very large registered express mail letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in October of 1981. The letter carries a mass franking of Day of Telecommunication stamps plus a number of the Intercosmo stamps. Plate errors on Michel Nr. 1123 (extended horizontal line in A, broken N and blue-grey passer cross). The overall postage amounted to 12 Dong. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in October of 1981. The letter carries a block of sixteen stamps of Michel Nr. 1123 the shows again a number of plate errors  (extended horizontal line in A, broken N and blue-grey passer cross). Two Intercosmo stamps on the reverse. Overall postage amounted to 7.91 Dong (including the free frank for 5 Dong). Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent from Dalat to Klewitz in December of 1981. It carries the flower stamps in different color shades (light and dark) It also carries pairs of the Lotus stamp Perf. 11.0 on yellowish paper and the post master perforations 9.5, 14 and 15 as well two im-perforated pairs. Post master perforations and im-perforated stems on postally used cover are very rare. 20 xu Intercosmo stamp on the reverse. Unusual black free frank for 5.60 Dong on the reverse. The overall postage amounted to 8.14 Dong.

Registered letter sent to Klewitz in September of 1981. It carries a large number of the Five Year Plan stamps (the green/yellow 12 xu stamp is all from the 1st printing) plus the 40 xu Intercosmo stamp for an overall postage of 8.40 Dong. Red Ho Chi Minh 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 Year 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 is also the Peoples Army set and two stamps of the Intercosmo set. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in October of 1980. The letter carries pairs of the Women Union set plus some Intercosmo stamps on the back for an overall postage of 7.93 Dong. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Air mail letter that carries the two 12 xu and 20 xu Flower values im-perforated and was mailed to Klewitz in October of 1981. There is also an im-perforated 40 xu Farm Animal stamp on the reverse. Im-perforated stamps on postally used cover are very rare.  Dong Intercosmo stamps the reverse. The overall postage amounted to 2.92 Dong.

Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in September of 1981. The letter features half of the perforated Pigeon set plus one of the Intercosmo stamps for an overall postage of 8.24 Dong (including the red free frank for 4.3 Dong). Klewitz reported that free franks were often used instead of stamps as especially the large nominal were not in stock at the post offices. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered letter sent from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz in September of 1981. The letter features the other half of the perforated Pigeon set plus one of the Intercosmo stamps for an overall postage of 11.04 Dong (including the red free frank for 4.3 Dong). Klewitz reported that free franks were often used instead of stamps as especially the large nominal were not in stock at the post offices. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Rare registered express mail letter sent from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz in September of 1980. The letter carries the entire perforated Intercosmo set plus other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 4.45 Dong. The zero money red free frank was required to produce the R-label as it came out of the same machine. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Very rare registered express mail letter featuring the souvenir sheet (1st Printing) and some other NVN stamps for an overall postage of 13.92 Dong (Including the red free frank of 6 Dong that was used to cancel the souvenir sheet). Souvenir sheets are rarely ever used on postally used mail. Fulda transit and Amrun arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Another very rare registered express mail letter sent from Quan 5 to Klewitz in November of 1981. The letter carries the souvenir sheet (1st Printing) and some perforated Intercosmo stamps for an overall postage of 14.2 Dong. Souvenir sheets used on postally traveled mail are very rare. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse. Green Fulda custom cachet on front. Note that the red free frank in the amount of 7 Dong shows an incorrect date (December 17th instead of November 17th).

Registered air mail letter sent in April of 1985 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries stamps from the Intercosmos, Ocean Fish, Karl Marx, Friendship, HCM Birthday and Chrysanthemum sets for an overall postage of 72.08D. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet.

Very interesting mixed franking of National Liberation Front (NLF) and North Vietnamese (Unified Vietnam) stamps on a triple mixed currency cover mailed in May of 1986 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. NLF stamps were not valid in the North until reunification in April of 1986. After that the NLF stamps that were denominated in South Vietnamese Dong became valid but were devalued by 500:1. This means that the four 30D stamps (Michel Nr. NLF 64) were only worth 0.24 nD. The North Vietnamese/Unified Vietnam stamps issued prior to the currency reform on September 14th, 1985 (i.e. Sun Flower, Intercosmos, Hai Phong Liberation) were devalued by 10:1 so only worth 11.26 oD : 10 = 1.13 nD. at time of mailing. Together with stamps in new Dong (Le’ Lo’i and National Assembly stamps) for 4.5D and the red free frank of  34.5 nD the overall postage of the letter amounted to 40.37 nD. There is also one military free frank from 1984 that was not valid for international postage but that was nevertheless accepted by the postal clerk. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registered air mail letter sent in May of 1986 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries a mix of stamps denominated in old Dong (Communist Party, Intercosmos) and new Dong (Laos, Reconstruction, Le’Lo’i). 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  1.84 oD =0.18 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (15D) plus the red free frank for 23D for 39.84 nD. Fragment of 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 Intercosmos (souvenir-sheet) sets.  Imperforate stamps or souvenir-sheets on postally used cover are very rare. The Prehistoric Animals, Intercosmos 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  23 oD =2.3 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (59 nD) plus the red free frank for 1043 nD for 1,104.3 nD.

Registered air mail letter sent in December of 1987 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the imperforate German Railway set in matching top right sheet margin with sheet numbers plus stamps from the Year of the Cat, Haley, 5 Billion Humans, Humane Living and Intercosmos (souvenir-sheet) sets. Imperforate stamps and Souvenir-Sheets on postally used cover are very rare. The Intercosmos stamps  were still denominated in old Dong while the 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 October 13th were only worth one tenth at the time of mailing. The overall postage hence amounted to 3 oD = 0.3 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (48 nD) plus the red free frank for 1,077 nD for 1,125.3 nD. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.

Registration Nr.102950

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