Unified Vietnam, World Communication Year, November 1st, 1983, Michel Nr. 1381-1382; Two stamps, both with a 50xu nominal, were issued in perforation 10.75. After the Viet Minh issue produced 1946 this was the first time that apart from the nominal value a surcharge, that was not counted in franking letters, was re-introduced. It is unclear what the surcharge was supposed to fund or who was going to receive it.
Here are the mint stamps.
These stamps were not officially released imperforate however a number of imperforate trial proofs have come to market. Here are two imperforate corner blocks of four.
Mint imperforate trial proof on which the blue and red printing run is missing.
Mint imperforate pair of trial proofs of which the right stamp shows the plate error “missing 1983”.
Detailed scan of the affected area.
Mint pair of imperforate trial proofs of which the left stamp shows the plate error “broken M in VIETNAM”.
Detailed scan of the affected area.
Mint pair of imperforate trial proofs of which the right stamp shows a printing flaw of “bright spots at bottom left”.
Detailed scan of the affected area.
Mint block of four (Fields 9-10 and 19-20) of which the top left stamp shows the plate error “blue smudge under UIT”, the top right stamp the plate errors of “blue dot above O of QUOC” and “blue dot under V of VIETNAM” and the bottom left stamp the plate error ” 10 xu surcharge crossed out in red”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mis-Perforated mint pair of which the bottom stamp shows the plate error “green dot in red emblem”.
Detailed scan of the affected area.
Mint block of four on which the red printing color shows a passer-shift towards the top. Also the blue color is much darker than usual.
Mint block of four (Fields 89-90 and 99-100) on which the red printing phase shows a passer-shift towards the left. The top left stamp also shows the plate error “blue dot at bottom right” and the bottom right stamp the plate error “green smudge above UIT”. Note that the bottom right stamp also shows a passer cross at the bottom right outside the stamp design.
Detailed scans of the affected area.
Mint block of ten stamps (Fields 9-10, 19-20, 29-30, etc.) which show various plate errors. The top left stamp shows the plate error “blue dot in N of VIETNAM”, the top right stamp the plate error “missing green checker points”, the third stamp the plate error “green dot under bottom of design” and the bottom right stamp the plate errors of “green dot in red emblem” and “blue dot under U of UIT”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas
Mint block of four (Fields 22-23 and 32-33) on which the top left and bottom right stamps show a printing flaw of the Green color run. The bottom right stamp also shows a partial failure of the red printing run in the emblem. The top right stamp shows the plate error “blue dot on A of LAC”. The bottom left stamp shows the plate error of “globe broken on top”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mint block of four which shows a passer-shift of the red color towards the top. The top right stamp shows the plate error “damaged = in 10” and the bottom left stamp the plate error of “damaged I in UIT”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mint block of four (Fields 74-75 and 84-85) on which the top and bottom left stamps show partial failure of the blue printing run, the top right stamp the plate error “missing 1983” and “blue dot above N of VIETNAM and 
under I of CHINH”. The bottom right stamp has a printing flaw that resulted in a missing the nominal value.
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mint pair on which the left stamp shows the plate error of “blue dot to the left of V of VIETNAM” and the right stamp the plate error “missing green checker points”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mint block of six stamps (Fields 8-9, 18-19 and 28-29) that shows a passer-shift of the light green color towards the left. The top right stamp shows the plate error of “blue smudge under UIT”, the middle left stamp the plate error “blue dot above letter”, the middle right stamp the plate error of “10 xu surcharge crossed out in red” and finally the bottom left stamp the plate error of “damaged U in UIT”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mint block of four showing a very dark blue color print. The top left stamp (Field 83) shows the plate error of “thick blue dot above UIT” and the top right stamp (Field 84) the plate error of “blue smudge on red flash”
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mint block of four on which the top left stamp (Field 7) shows the plate error of “bright spot under 1983”, the top right stamp (Field 8) the plate error of “green dot in E of VIETNAM” and the bottom right stamp (Field 18) the plate errors of “green dot at bottom left of stamp design” and “blue dot above letter”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas
Mint block of nine stamps on which the top left stamp shows the plate error of “white spot to the right of antenna”, the top right stamp the plate error of “additional accent on NAM CUOC”, the middle right stamp the plate error of “flag on H of CHINH” and the bottom right stamp the plate error of “missing 1 in 1983”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas.
Mint pair on which the bottom stamp shows a printing flaw at the bottom left.
Detailed scan of the affected area.
Mint strip of twenty stamps (9th and 10th vertical row in the sheet/bottom four are not shown) which show a number of plate errors. The second stamp from the top left the plate error of “additional dot under E of VIETNAM” the second pair from the top (Fields 39-40) shows the plate error of “damaged engraver sign”, the fourth stamp from the top left (Field 49) the printing flaw “white spot under antenna”, the pairs of the third and fourth row from the top (Fields 50 and 60) the plate error of “brown dot in-between stamps”, the fourth stamp from the top on the left (Field 59) the plate error “left corner damaged”, the sixth stamp from the top right the plate error of “brown dot under 10” and finally the right stamp from the bottom right the plate error of “10 crossed out by red line”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas
Mint block of ten stamps (Fields 54-55, 64-65, 74-75, 84-85 and 94-95) which show a progressive failure of the brown printing run from the top to bottom. The seventh stamp shows the plate error of “small brown dot in antenna” and the bottom right stamp the plate error of “damaged engraver sign”.
Detailed scans of the affected areas
Mint stamp (Field 33) that shows the plate error of “brown dot to the left of antenna”.
Detailed scan of the affected area.
Rare single franking of the brown 50 xu value on a local letter sent from Hanoi in December of 1984 to Hau Giang. Illegible transit cancels the reverse. These stamps were nor popular with the public due to the 10 xu surcharge so few of them were used locally.
Registered air mail letter sent in December of 1983 from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz. The letter carries a block of four that shows some of the print flaws and plate errors described above (partial failure of the blue color print run, missing 1983, blue dot over N of VIETNAM and small blue dot at flash). The top stamp of the pair shows plate error of damaged 0 in 10″. Plate errors on postally used cover are very rare. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 19.20D (including the red free frank for 4D). Green Fulda custom cachet on front.
Registered air mail letter sent in December of 1983 from Nguyen Trai to Klewitz. The block of four of the 50xu stamp shows a partial missing green and red printing run. One of the Communist Party stamps shows a passer-shift of there yellow color towards the right and the other “nominal partially missing”. Error stamps on postally used cover are very rare. There are also some Soccer stamps on the reverse. The overall postage amounted to 59 Dong. Green Fulda custom cachet on front.
Registered air mail letter mailed in August of 1984 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter features the set in different color shades. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 27.14D (including the red free frank for 2.60D).Partial green Fulda custom cachet on front. Fulda arrival cancel on the reverse.
Registered air mail letter sent from Ho Chi Minh City in September of 1984 to Klewitz. The letter carries two different color tones of the brown 50x value. There are also stamps from the Animal set on the reverse. The overall postage of the letter amounted to 31.10D (including the red free frank for 6.40D). Partial green Fulda custom cachet on the reverse.
Registered air mail letter sent in March of 1985 from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz. The letter carries a pair of the rare single rose overprint (one stamp shows a faulty overprint) plus a block of four of the double rose overprint. There are also stamps from the Friendship between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, World Communication Day and Union Conference sets for an overall postage of 49.50D.
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 February of 1985 from Quan 5 (Cholon) to Klewitz. Th letter features the entire perforated and imperforate Hanoi Liberation set. There are also stamps from the Defense and production, Karl Marx, Friendship and Communication Day sets for an overall postage of 45.50D. Imperforate stamps on postally used cover are very rare. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.
Registered air mail letter sent in June of 1986 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries stamps that were still denominated in old Dong (Mammals, Communication Day) and new Dong (National Assembly, Reconstruction, Dam Building). 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 2.52 oD =0.25 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (16 nD) plus the illegible red free frank. Fragment of green Fulda custom cachet on front. Unusual German registration label for incoming registered mail.
Registered air mail letter sent in March of 1989 from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the imperforate Cosmonautics souvenir-sheet plus stamps from the Dong Da, Hydro Stations, Communist Party, Communication Year and Tourism (souvenir-sheet) sets. Imperforate stamps and souvenir-sheets on postally used cover are very rare. The Communist Party and Communication Year 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 3.20 oD = 0.32 nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (6,230 nD) plus the red free frank for 6,660 nD for 12,890.32 nD.
Registered air mail lettre sent in July of 1990 as a mixed currency franking from Ho Chi Minh City to Klewitz. The letter carries the perforated and imperforate Communication stamp plus stamps from the Off-shore Oil Production, Ice Skating (stamp from the souvenir-sheet), Helicopters, French Revolution I, Animals and Communication Year sets. The Communication stamps all show a vertical double perforation across the center of the stamps. Imperforate and error stamps on postally used cover are very rare.The Communication Year stamps from 1983 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 2.50 oD = 0.25nD. plus the stamps in new Dong (2,220 nD) plus the red free frank for 7,250 nD for 9,470.25 nD. Fragment of the green Fulda custom cachet on front.
Registration Nr. 103520
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